Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank trimmed its position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 361,500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 19,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.27% of Leidos worth $52,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake 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 valued at $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 4,421 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Leidos in the third quarter valued at about $244,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Leidos by 73.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,366 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Leidos by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,869 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 2,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Leidos by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 6,358 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 2,161 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Trading Up 1.3 %

Leidos stock opened at $134.59 on Friday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.23 and a 52-week high of $202.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.57, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $140.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.02.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th 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 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.32%.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In related news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $203,320.16. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at $862,260.48. This trade represents a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the company’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 owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,287.36. This trade represents a 15.89 % 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LDOS. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com lowered Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, William Blair lowered Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Six equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.87.

Leidos Company 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.