Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 1,324 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,266 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,324 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $1,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LDOS. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA bought a new position in shares of Leidos in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Leidos in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Leidos in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Leidos in the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Leidos in the third quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LDOS shares. Bank of America increased their price target on Leidos from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Leidos from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Leidos from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. TheStreet raised Leidos from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Leidos from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.42.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of LDOS stock opened at $128.77 on Wednesday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.58 and a 52-week high of $131.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $127.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.22.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The aerospace company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.25. Leidos had a return on equity of 22.92% and a net margin of 1.29%. The firm had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. Leidos’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.