Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 83,605 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 8,576 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Leidos worth $12,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LDOS. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Leidos by 73.7% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,366 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,277 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Leidos by 23.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,869 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after acquiring an additional 2,658 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Leidos by 82.1% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,359 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $874,000 after acquiring an additional 2,416 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Leidos by 10.7% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 20,195 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Leidos by 4.2% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 86,817 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $14,152,000 after acquiring an additional 3,466 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Leidos Stock Performance

Shares of LDOS stock opened at $138.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $140.05 and a 200 day moving average of $154.74. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.23 and a 52 week high of $202.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

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

Leidos Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LDOS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. William Blair cut shares of Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Six research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total transaction of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $862,260.48. This represents a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.