Artemis Investment Management LLP Reduces Stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Artemis Investment Management LLP lessened its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 71.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,278 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 48,416 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP's holdings in Leidos were worth $2,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Leidos in the 4th quarter valued at $266,419,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 510.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 999,661 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $144,011,000 after acquiring an additional 835,930 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,630,448 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $378,942,000 after acquiring an additional 682,532 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 435.1% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 464,573 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $67,032,000 after acquiring an additional 377,756 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 151.6% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 548,748 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $79,053,000 after acquiring an additional 330,623 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other news, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 1,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.55, for a total transaction of $193,187.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,121,137.25. The trade was a 5.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Baird R W cut shares of Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Leidos from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Leidos from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $178.00 target price on shares of Leidos and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Leidos from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $163.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $177.46.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of LDOS traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $155.71. The stock had a trading volume of 1,140,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,267,286. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.54. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.62 and a 12 month high of $202.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.63. The company's 50-day moving average is $150.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.98.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 32.62% and a net margin of 7.87%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Leidos's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.10%.

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.