Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 222,075 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 64.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 568,765 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 222,075 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.43% of Leidos worth $81,936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Leidos during the 4th quarter valued at $266,419,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 510.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 999,661 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $144,011,000 after purchasing an additional 835,930 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 13.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,504,392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $571,216,000 after purchasing an additional 405,256 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Leidos by 435.1% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 464,573 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $67,032,000 after purchasing an additional 377,756 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Leidos by 151.6% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 548,748 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $79,053,000 after purchasing an additional 330,623 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LDOS. UBS Group cut their price objective on Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. 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 research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total value of $279,278.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,287.36. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,260.48. The trade was a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Leidos Stock Performance

Shares of LDOS opened at $139.46 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $17.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $136.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.20. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.23 and a 12 month high of $202.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

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

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given 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 yield of 1.15%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.32%.

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.