Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Acquires 680 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 13.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,559 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 680 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LDOS. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,796 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Leidos by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,064 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $874,000 after buying an additional 2,752 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 64.3% during the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 4,439 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,738 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Leidos in the 4th quarter worth approximately $908,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of Leidos in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $564,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on LDOS shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Leidos from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $165.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Leidos from $180.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Leidos from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Leidos from $205.00 to $199.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.07.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In related news, Director Noel B. Geer bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $161.13 per share, with a total value of $322,260.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $322,260. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,047 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.94, for a total value of $193,632.18. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,185,095.52. This represents a 14.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Leidos Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of LDOS opened at $155.19 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $157.02 and a 200 day moving average of $158.10. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $107.73 and a 1-year high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.97. Leidos had a net margin of 7.37% and a return on equity of 30.31%. The company had revenue of $4.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.03 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. This is a positive change from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Leidos’s payout ratio is presently 18.22%.

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.