Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Director Gary Stephen May Sells 2,000 Shares

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,000 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total value of $356,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,137 shares in the company, valued at $1,804,892.85. The trade was a 16.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Leidos Stock Performance

NYSE:LDOS opened at $182.10 on Thursday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.62 and a 1 year high of $202.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $159.74 and a 200-day moving average of $147.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.65.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.58. Leidos had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 33.57%. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.63 earnings per share. Leidos’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Leidos’s payout ratio is 15.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Leidos in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $288,000. Natixis raised its position in Leidos by 222.3% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis now owns 8,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 5,625 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Leidos by 1,353.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 165,003 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $26,031,000 after purchasing an additional 153,648 shares during the last quarter. California First Leasing Corp raised its position in Leidos by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. California First Leasing Corp now owns 19,231 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,034,000 after purchasing an additional 2,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Leidos by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 41,405 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,532,000 after purchasing an additional 6,962 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Baird R W downgraded Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Robert W. Baird downgraded Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $163.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $178.00 target price on Leidos and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.46.

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.