Banco Santander S.A. Invests $316,000 in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Banco Santander S.A. bought a new position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,194 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in Leidos by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,800,357 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $945,458,000 after purchasing an additional 56,066 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 valued at $571,216,000 after buying an additional 405,256 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,365,903 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $546,912,000 after buying an additional 42,358 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Leidos by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,405,726 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $392,133,000 after buying an additional 522,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Leidos by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,153,420 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $351,007,000 after acquiring an additional 53,307 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,260.48. This trade 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 currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. William Blair lowered Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group lowered their target price on Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen lowered Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.87.

Leidos Stock Down 1.5 %

Leidos stock opened at $137.17 on Tuesday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.22 and a fifty-two week high of $202.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.62.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.32%.

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.