Bay Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $232,000 Investment in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Bay Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,607 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LDOS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Leidos by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,450,395 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,225,784,000 after acquiring an additional 84,003 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,800,357 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $945,458,000 after buying an additional 56,066 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 13.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,504,392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $571,216,000 after acquiring an additional 405,256 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Leidos by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,365,903 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $546,912,000 after acquiring an additional 42,358 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Leidos by 27.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,405,726 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $392,133,000 after buying an additional 522,764 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LDOS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen downgraded Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.07.

Insider Activity

In other Leidos news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $203,320.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,260.48. This trade represents a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,287.36. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Leidos Price Performance

LDOS opened at $135.78 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $139.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $154.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Leidos’s dividend 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.