Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) is Lipe & Dalton’s 8th Largest Position

Lipe & Dalton cut its position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Leidos accounts for 3.0% of Lipe & Dalton’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Lipe & Dalton’s holdings in Leidos were worth $5,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Leidos by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,087,661 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,629,768,000 after purchasing an additional 236,272 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Leidos by 10.9% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,010,106 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,381,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475,772 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Leidos by 6.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,660,386 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $429,501,000 after purchasing an additional 272,090 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Leidos by 5.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,044,206 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $280,554,000 after purchasing an additional 169,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Leidos by 0.8% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,936,261 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $269,738,000 after purchasing an additional 21,940 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Argus increased their price target on shares of Leidos from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Leidos from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays raised Leidos from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Leidos from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Leidos from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Leidos presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,745 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.49, for a total transaction of $341,725.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,413,210.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director David G. Fubini sold 7,874 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.89, for a total transaction of $1,007,005.86. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,696 shares in the company, valued at $1,879,471.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,745 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.49, for a total transaction of $341,725.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,413,210.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Leidos Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:LDOS traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $124.64. 782,176 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 811,104. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.58 and a 52-week high of $131.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.80. The firm has a market cap of $16.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.90, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The aerospace company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.25. Leidos had a return on equity of 22.92% and a net margin of 1.29%. The business had revenue of $3.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 107.04%.

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.