BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Purchases 8,994 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 57.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,590 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,994 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Leidos were worth $3,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Leidos by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,430,264 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $449,592,000 after purchasing an additional 188,458 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,149,948 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $124,470,000 after buying an additional 6,284 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Leidos by 39.7% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 782,161 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $114,102,000 after acquiring an additional 222,179 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 9,164.4% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 578,561 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $62,623,000 after acquiring an additional 572,316 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Leidos by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 553,812 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $80,790,000 after acquiring an additional 89,406 shares in the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.02, for a total transaction of $144,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,622,241.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.02, for a total value of $144,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at $1,622,241.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $153,798.57. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,082,689.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Leidos Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of LDOS opened at $159.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.83, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.70. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $89.22 and a 52 week high of $160.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $151.91 and a 200-day moving average of $143.72.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The aerospace company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $4.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 2.72% and a return on equity of 28.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 8.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Leidos from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Leidos from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Leidos from $168.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Leidos has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.08.

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.