ING Groep NV Sells 21,177 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

ING Groep NV trimmed its holdings in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 21.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 77,017 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 21,177 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV owned 0.06% of Leidos worth $12,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LDOS. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Leidos by 1,460.0% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 156 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Leidos during the third quarter worth about $30,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Leidos in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Leidos by 251.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 281 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,047 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.94, for a total transaction of $193,632.18. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at $1,185,095.52. The trade was a 14.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Surya N. Mohapatra sold 2,748 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.97, for a total transaction of $535,777.56. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,899,594.97. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LDOS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Leidos from $183.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Leidos from $180.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Leidos from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Leidos from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Leidos currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.23.

Leidos Stock Down 13.6 %

Leidos stock opened at $167.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $169.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.68. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.30 and a 1-year high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.97. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.31% and a net margin of 7.37%. The business had revenue of $4.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. This is an increase from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 17.31%.

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.