Natixis Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Natixis Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 180,805 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 49,946 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Leidos were worth $29,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of Leidos by 2.3% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,492 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 10.7% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 20,195 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 82.1% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,359 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $874,000 after acquiring an additional 2,416 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 51.5% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 6,358 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 2,161 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 23.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,869 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after acquiring an additional 2,658 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Trading Down 4.4 %

Shares of Leidos stock opened at $160.65 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $21.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.63 and a 1 year high of $202.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.56.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. Analysts expect that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. This is a positive change from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Leidos’s payout ratio is presently 17.31%.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In related news, Director Surya N. Mohapatra sold 2,748 shares of Leidos 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,899,594.97. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,047 shares of Leidos 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Leidos from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Leidos from $183.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Leidos from $180.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Leidos from $165.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Leidos currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.23.

Leidos 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.