Oak Thistle LLC Purchases Shares of 3,917 Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $564,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Leidos by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,800,357 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $945,458,000 after purchasing an additional 56,066 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 13.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,504,392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $571,216,000 after buying an additional 405,256 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Leidos by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,365,903 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $546,912,000 after acquiring an additional 42,358 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,405,726 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $392,133,000 after acquiring an additional 522,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Leidos by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,153,420 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $351,007,000 after acquiring an additional 53,307 shares in the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on LDOS shares. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Leidos from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Leidos from $165.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Leidos from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.07.

Leidos Stock Down 0.2 %

LDOS stock opened at $154.97 on Friday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $107.73 and a fifty-two week high of $202.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $158.64 and a 200-day moving average of $157.89. The company has a market capitalization of $20.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.66. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.97. The firm had revenue of $4.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.06 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 7.37% and a return on equity of 30.31%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Leidos’s payout ratio is 18.22%.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In related news, Director Surya N. Mohapatra sold 2,748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.97, for a total transaction of $535,777.56. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,899,594.97. This represents a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.94, for a total transaction of $193,632.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,185,095.52. The trade was a 14.04 % 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 corporate insiders.

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.