Paralel Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Paralel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,149 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 1,736 shares during the quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Leidos were worth $2,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LDOS. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Leidos by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 454 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,738 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,796 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,197 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $749,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LDOS shares. TD Cowen lowered Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.79.

Leidos Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LDOS traded down $0.72 during trading on Thursday, reaching $139.01. 34,525 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,190,667. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.35. The stock has a market cap of $17.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.66. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.23 and a 12-month high of $202.90. 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 (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

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

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.