First Horizon Advisors Inc. Buys 699 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 208.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,034 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 699 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sigma Planning Corp increased its position in shares of Leidos by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 2,471 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Leuthold Group LLC acquired a new stake in Leidos during the fourth quarter worth $3,697,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its holdings in Leidos by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 2,106 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. ING Groep NV raised its stake in shares of Leidos by 52.0% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 117,042 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $16,861,000 after buying an additional 40,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Alliance lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 105.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 3,126 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,260.48. The trade was a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total value of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Leidos Trading Down 0.9 %

LDOS opened at $129.52 on Thursday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.22 and a 1-year high of $202.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.66. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $143.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.44.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share 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 anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LDOS. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Leidos from $180.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Leidos from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.87.

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.