Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Purchases 2,558 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 64.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,522 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,558 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LDOS. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Leidos by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 73,081 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $10,463,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos in the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in shares of Leidos during the fourth quarter worth $113,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Leidos by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,941 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,937 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Leidos by 435.1% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 464,573 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $67,032,000 after acquiring an additional 377,756 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Leidos Trading Up 1.5 %

LDOS opened at $135.78 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $154.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. 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 $123.23 and a 12 month high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.32%.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,287.36. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LDOS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. William Blair lowered shares of Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. TD Cowen lowered Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Leidos currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.07.

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.