Norges Bank Purchases New Stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,849,364 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $266,419,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in LDOS. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Leidos during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Leidos in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Leidos by 143.1% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 265 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos in the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos in the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on LDOS. 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. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, William Blair cut shares of Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Leidos presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.07.

Leidos Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE LDOS opened at $133.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $137.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.64. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.23 and a 52-week high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share (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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.32%.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In related news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the business’s 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 owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,287.36. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.