Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Boosts Stock Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. raised its stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,280 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 70 shares during the quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LDOS. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 156.5% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,133,508 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $165,356,000 after acquiring an additional 691,575 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in Leidos by 1,184.3% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 501,868 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $73,213,000 after buying an additional 462,792 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Leidos by 24,194.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,047 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $61,459,000 after buying an additional 375,495 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 76.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 698,807 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $101,942,000 after buying an additional 303,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Leidos by 138.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on Leidos from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Leidos from $155.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Leidos from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Leidos from $169.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Leidos from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $166.92.

Leidos Stock Performance

Shares of LDOS stock traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $169.24. 85,620 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 841,083. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.53 and a 12 month high of $171.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $160.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $149.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.80 billion, a PE ratio of 52.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The aerospace company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.36. Leidos had a return on equity of 28.40% and a net margin of 2.72%. The business had revenue of $4.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. Leidos’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 8.96 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. This is an increase from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 47.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.02, for a total transaction of $144,020.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,622,241.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.02, for a total transaction of $144,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,622,241.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas Arthur Bell bought 1,712 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $145.04 per share, for a total transaction of $248,308.48. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,248,605.92. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.