Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 7.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,385 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 804 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Leidos were worth $1,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Leidos by 3.5% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 6.5% in the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 1,141 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. raised its stake in Leidos by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. now owns 2,280 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Somerset Trust Co lifted its holdings in Leidos by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 2,429 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC boosted its stake in Leidos by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 11,366 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,878,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 trade represents a 14.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Surya N. Mohapatra sold 2,748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,899,594.97. This trade represents a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LDOS shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Leidos from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Leidos from $183.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Leidos from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Leidos from $165.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.23.

Leidos Price Performance

LDOS stock opened at $158.84 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $21.19 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $169.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.65. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.72 and a 12-month high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted 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 business had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.31% and a net margin of 7.37%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.07 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 17.31%.

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.