Atwood & Palmer Inc. Increases Stock Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 256,734 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 1,187 shares during the period. Leidos makes up approximately 2.5% of Atwood & Palmer Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Atwood & Palmer Inc. owned about 0.19% of Leidos worth $36,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. grew its stake in Leidos by 3.2% during the third quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. now owns 2,280 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Somerset Trust Co increased its holdings in Leidos by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 2,429 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Leidos by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 11,366 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,878,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 2.0% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on LDOS. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Leidos from $205.00 to $199.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Leidos from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Leidos from $180.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Leidos from $165.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.07.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of LDOS opened at $155.19 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $157.02 and a 200-day moving average of $158.10. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $107.73 and a 1 year high of $202.90. The company has a market capitalization of $20.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.97. Leidos had a net margin of 7.37% and a return on equity of 30.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Surya N. Mohapatra sold 2,748 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.97, for a total value of $535,777.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,899,594.97. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,047 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.94, for a total transaction of $193,632.18. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,185,095.52. This represents a 14.04 % 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.

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.