Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,901,433 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 155,481 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Leidos were worth $273,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Leidos by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 454 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Leidos by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,738 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Leidos by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,796 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,197 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on LDOS. William Blair downgraded shares of Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com lowered Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Leidos from $191.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Leidos has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.23.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In related news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $203,320.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $862,260.48. The trade was a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total transaction of $279,278.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Leidos Stock Performance

LDOS opened at $139.51 on Friday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.62 and a 12-month high of $202.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $135.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

Leidos Company Profile

Leidos Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides services and solutions in the defense, intelligence, civil, and health markets in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Defense Solutions, Civil, and Health segments. The Defense Solutions segment offers national security solutions and systems for air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace for the U.S.