Raymond James & Associates Decreases Stock Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Raymond James & Associates lessened its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS – Get Rating) by 13.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 23,476 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.11% of Leidos worth $12,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LDOS. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Leidos in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,118,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Leidos by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,389,115 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $150,052,000 after purchasing an additional 247,472 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Leidos by 67.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 603,573 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $60,786,000 after purchasing an additional 242,201 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Leidos by 1.6% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Leidos by 2,971.5% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 228,180 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $24,648,000 after purchasing an additional 220,751 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other news, Director David G. Fubini sold 6,189 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.20, for a total value of $675,838.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,360,959.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Christopher R. Cage sold 1,601 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction of $170,522.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,477,719.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David G. Fubini sold 6,189 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.20, for a total value of $675,838.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,360,959.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 61,145 shares of company stock valued at $6,583,348. 1.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LDOS has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Leidos from $105.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Friday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Leidos from $105.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Leidos from $112.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Leidos in a research report on Thursday, December 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Leidos presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.50.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of LDOS opened at $99.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $13.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $106.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $81.07 and a 12 month high of $111.12.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 1st. The aerospace company reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 4.81%. On average, research analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 15th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 14th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Leidos’s payout ratio is 29.45%.

About Leidos

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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. It operates through three segments: Defense Solutions, Civil, and Health. The Defense Solutions segment offers national security solutions and systems for air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace for the U.S.