Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 1,369 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,841 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,369 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $1,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Leidos by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 454 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,738 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 2.0% in the fourth 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. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Leidos by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,197 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $749,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on LDOS. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen lowered Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Leidos currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.07.

Leidos Price Performance

LDOS stock opened at $133.95 on Friday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.23 and a 52-week high of $202.90. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.65. 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 $17.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $203,320.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,260.48. This represents a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by 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.