Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Position Lifted by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 11.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,996 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,677 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $2,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 156.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,133,508 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $165,356,000 after buying an additional 691,575 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in Leidos by 1,184.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 501,868 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $73,213,000 after purchasing an additional 462,792 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Leidos by 24,194.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,047 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $61,459,000 after buying an additional 375,495 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Leidos by 76.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 698,807 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $101,942,000 after purchasing an additional 303,775 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Leidos by 138.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 517,498 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $67,840,000 after purchasing an additional 300,486 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Noel B. Geer bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $161.13 per share, with a total value of $322,260.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $322,260. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Surya N. Mohapatra sold 2,748 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.97, for a total value of $535,777.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,899,594.97. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Leidos Trading Down 1.3 %

LDOS stock opened at $164.02 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.62. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $105.52 and a 52 week high of $202.90. The company has a market capitalization of $21.89 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.97. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.31% and a net margin of 7.37%. The company had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. Leidos’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is 17.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on LDOS. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Leidos from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Leidos from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Leidos from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Leidos from $165.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Leidos currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.77.

About Leidos

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.