Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 19,584 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Heartland Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 93,879 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 19,584 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $13,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LDOS. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Leidos by 83.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,167 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after buying an additional 3,703 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Leidos by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 12,464 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,800,000 after buying an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co raised its stake in Leidos by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 23,941 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,902,000 after buying an additional 6,395 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. bought a new position in Leidos during the fourth quarter worth about $1,979,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in Leidos in the third quarter valued at about $4,622,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LDOS. William Blair cut Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group reduced their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.07.

Leidos Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE LDOS opened at $135.76 on Friday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.23 and a 12 month high of $202.90. 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 50 day moving average of $137.94 and a 200-day moving average of $153.78. The company has a market cap of $17.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is 17.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $862,260.48. The trade was a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.