Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Lowers Holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lowered its holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,538 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 361 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Leidos were worth $595,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Leidos by 138.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 517,498 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $67,840,000 after acquiring an additional 300,486 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Leidos by 86.2% in the first quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 14,506 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after acquiring an additional 6,717 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Leidos during the 1st quarter worth $204,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its stake in shares of Leidos by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 28,224 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,700,000 after buying an additional 5,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Leidos by 65.5% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 184,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $24,212,000 after buying an additional 73,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In related news, insider Roy E. Stevens sold 875 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.67, for a total value of $131,836.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 44,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,651,929.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LDOS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Leidos from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Leidos from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Leidos from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Leidos from $137.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.83.

Leidos Stock Performance

LDOS traded down $2.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $149.83. 1,043,788 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 767,939. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.48. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $89.22 and a 12 month high of $155.45. The stock has a market cap of $20.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The aerospace company reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.59. The company had revenue of $3.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 25.66% and a net margin of 2.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.47 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.52%.

About Leidos

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.