Spartan Planning & Wealth Management Invests $243,000 in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,687 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,800,357 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $945,458,000 after acquiring an additional 56,066 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Leidos by 13.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,504,392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $571,216,000 after purchasing an additional 405,256 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,365,903 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $546,912,000 after purchasing an additional 42,358 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 27.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,153,420 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $351,007,000 after buying an additional 53,307 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LDOS shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Leidos from $180.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their price target 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. TD Cowen raised shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Leidos in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $182.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.00.

Leidos Stock Down 0.4 %

LDOS stock traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $147.72. 357,337 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 891,328. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.23. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $107.73 and a 1-year high of $202.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.83. The firm has a market cap of $19.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Leidos Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. This is an increase from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.22%.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.94, for a total value of $193,632.18. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at $1,185,095.52. This trade represents a 14.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Noel B. Geer purchased 2,000 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $161.13 per share, for a total transaction of $322,260.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $322,260. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.