Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases 2,367 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 350,806 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,367 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $57,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Leidos during the first quarter valued at about $406,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Leidos by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 40,026 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,247,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Leidos by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,862 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos in the first quarter worth approximately $261,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 2.9% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,671 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Leidos news, Director Surya N. Mohapatra sold 2,748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.97, for a total value of $535,777.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,899,594.97. This trade represents a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.94, for a total transaction of $193,632.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,185,095.52. The trade was a 14.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LDOS. Truist Financial upped their price target on Leidos from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Leidos from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Leidos from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Leidos from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Leidos from $205.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Leidos has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.23.

Leidos Stock Down 13.6 %

LDOS stock opened at $167.96 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $169.15 and a 200-day moving average of $155.16. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.30 and a fifty-two week high of $202.90. The company has a market capitalization of $22.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.97. The firm had revenue of $4.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 7.37% and a return on equity of 30.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.31%.

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.