Alberta Investment Management Corp Purchases 17,600 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 838.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 19,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 17,600 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Leidos were worth $2,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LDOS. FMR LLC grew its position in Leidos by 27.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,405,726 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $392,133,000 after acquiring an additional 522,764 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Leidos by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,504,392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $571,216,000 after purchasing an additional 405,256 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 24,194.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,047 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $61,459,000 after purchasing an additional 375,495 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Leidos by 39.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 841,479 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $121,223,000 after purchasing an additional 239,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Leidos by 53.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 576,022 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $93,891,000 after buying an additional 199,686 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on LDOS. StockNews.com raised shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen cut shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Leidos from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Leidos from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $203,320.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,260.48. This trade represents a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Leidos Price Performance

LDOS opened at $130.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.76 and a 12-month high of $202.90. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.95.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s payout ratio is 17.32%.

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.