Marshall Wace LLP Sells 17,158 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Marshall Wace LLP lowered its position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 88.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,305 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 17,158 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in Leidos were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Zacks Investment Management grew its stake in Leidos by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 30,338 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $4,370,000 after purchasing an additional 7,919 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Leidos by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,060 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,890,000 after buying an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in Leidos by 637.2% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 36,604 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $5,273,000 after acquiring an additional 31,639 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its position in shares of Leidos by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 186,472 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $26,863,000 after purchasing an additional 45,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new stake in Leidos during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $362,000. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Leidos news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $203,320.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $862,260.48. This trade represents a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total transaction of $279,278.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,478,287.36. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Leidos Stock Performance

LDOS stock traded up $1.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $155.90. 937,980 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,206,197. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.62 and a twelve month high of $202.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $149.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.65.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.50. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.93% and a net margin of 7.53%. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Leidos's payout ratio is 17.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. William Blair lowered shares of Leidos from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Leidos from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Leidos from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Leidos to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Leidos from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $180.69.

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.