California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 1,009 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 657,675 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,009 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Leidos were worth $94,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LDOS. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 86.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 14,863 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,423,000 after buying an additional 6,888 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new position in Leidos in the third quarter worth approximately $230,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Leidos in the third quarter valued at approximately $247,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 4.3% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 30,367 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,950,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Leidos by 4.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 807,688 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $131,653,000 after purchasing an additional 31,619 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on LDOS. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. William Blair lowered Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.07.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LDOS opened at $135.16 on Tuesday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.23 and a fifty-two week high of $202.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $137.11 and its 200 day moving average is $153.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $17.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.32%.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of Leidos 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $862,260.48. This represents a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.