Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,991 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 2,691 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Leidos were worth $2,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LDOS. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Leidos by 1,460.0% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 156 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Leidos during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Leidos during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Leidos by 143.1% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 265 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in Leidos in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.87.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total value of $279,278.72. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $862,260.48. This trade 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 Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of LDOS stock opened at $129.77 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $142.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.02 billion, a PE ratio of 14.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.66. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.22 and a 1-year 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 for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.32%.

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.