Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Shares Bought by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 99.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 27,644 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,818 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Leidos were worth $4,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Fiduciary Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 23,941 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,902,000 after purchasing an additional 6,395 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 100.1% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,837 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,440,000 after buying an additional 4,421 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 51.2% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 837,370 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $136,491,000 after buying an additional 283,558 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Leidos by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 55,165 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,992,000 after acquiring an additional 9,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Leidos during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,622,000. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LDOS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Leidos from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group started coverage on Leidos in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $182.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Leidos from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Leidos from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.00.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In other news, Director Surya N. Mohapatra sold 2,748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.97, for a total transaction of $535,777.56. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,899,594.97. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Leidos Trading Up 0.1 %

LDOS opened at $153.16 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $20.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.64. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $105.52 and a 52 week high of $202.90. The business’s 50 day moving average is $170.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.97. Leidos had a net margin of 7.37% and a return on equity of 30.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. Leidos’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. This is a positive change from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.22%.

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.