Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 330,623 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 151.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 548,748 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 330,623 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Leidos were worth $79,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in Leidos by 73.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,366 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,277 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 82.1% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,359 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Leidos by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 86,817 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $14,152,000 after purchasing an additional 3,466 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Leidos by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 381,300 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $62,152,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in Leidos by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,637 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $593,000 after buying an additional 806 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LDOS opened at $138.61 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $139.91 and its 200-day moving average is $154.62. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.23 and a twelve month high of $202.90. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $17.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, William Blair cut shares of Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Six 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Leidos presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.87.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In related news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total transaction of $279,278.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $203,320.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,260.48. This trade represents a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Company 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.