Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 249 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,577 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 249 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Leidos were worth $4,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LDOS. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Leidos by 156.5% in 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 during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,405,726 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $392,133,000 after purchasing an additional 522,764 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 24,194.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,047 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $61,459,000 after purchasing an additional 375,495 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Leidos by 76.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 698,807 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $101,942,000 after purchasing an additional 303,775 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Leidos by 51.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 837,370 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $136,491,000 after purchasing an additional 283,558 shares in the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

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

Leidos Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE LDOS opened at $143.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.64. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $105.52 and a 12 month high of $202.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $169.45 and a 200-day moving average of $157.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.97. The firm had revenue of $4.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.06 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 7.37% and a return on equity of 30.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 9.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Leidos’s payout ratio is 18.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LDOS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Leidos from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Leidos from $180.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Leidos from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Leidos from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Leidos from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat, Leidos has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.00.

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.