New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 5,000 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 80,664 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.06% of Leidos worth $11,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Leidos by 1,460.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 156 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Leidos in the third quarter worth $29,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Leidos in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Leidos by 143.1% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 265 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in Leidos during the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In related news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total value of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,287.36. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $203,320.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE LDOS opened at $128.43 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $16.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.66. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.22 and a fifty-two week high of $202.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.21.

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

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Leidos from $199.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair lowered shares of Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Leidos from $165.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.27.

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.