Stevens Capital Management LP Takes $991,000 Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 6,881 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $991,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LDOS. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Leidos by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $242,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Leidos by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 454 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Leidos by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,738 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Leidos by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,796 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Leidos by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,197 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $749,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LDOS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. William Blair lowered shares of Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other 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 transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Leidos Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of LDOS stock opened at $133.66 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $139.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $17.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.23 and a twelve month high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current 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 given 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 1.20%. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 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.