Oarsman Capital Inc. Purchases Shares of 6,758 Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Oarsman Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,758 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $974,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Leidos by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 454 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Leidos by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,738 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Leidos by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,796 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $691,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in 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 valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the company’s 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total value of $279,278.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LDOS. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Leidos has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.07.

Leidos Stock Down 4.3 %

LDOS opened at $133.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.23 and a 12 month high of $202.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

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

Leidos Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. 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.