Arizona State Retirement System Increases Stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,172 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Leidos were worth $5,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Leidos during the fourth quarter valued at about $685,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Leidos during the fourth quarter valued at about $9,677,000. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in Leidos by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,369 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Leidos by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 15,758 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,270,000 after purchasing an additional 3,051 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Stock Up 4.8 %

Shares of LDOS stock opened at $139.49 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $141.41 and a 200 day moving average of $155.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $18.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.22 and a twelve month high of $202.90.

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

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LDOS shares. StockNews.com downgraded Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. William Blair downgraded Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.87.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total value of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,287.36. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $203,320.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $862,260.48. This trade represents a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Leidos 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.