Board of the Pension Protection Fund Raises Holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Board of the Pension Protection Fund grew its position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,800 shares during the quarter. Leidos makes up 1.5% of Board of the Pension Protection Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Board of the Pension Protection Fund’s holdings in Leidos were worth $1,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LDOS. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos in the 1st quarter worth $264,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Leidos by 2,940.8% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,159 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 2,088 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Leidos by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,729 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Leidos by 263.7% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,706 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,849,000 after acquiring an additional 9,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional bought a new position in shares of Leidos in the 1st quarter worth $188,000. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on LDOS. UBS Group boosted their price target on Leidos from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $178.00 price target on Leidos and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Argus boosted their price target on Leidos from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Leidos in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $195.00 target price on Leidos in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $188.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $356,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,804,892.85. This trade represents a 16.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.43, for a total value of $168,913.36. Following the sale, the director directly owned 21,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,738,095.24. This trade represents a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,975 shares of company stock valued at $4,078,740. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Stock Down 3.2%

Shares of LDOS stock opened at $187.89 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.11 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.71. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.62 and a fifty-two week high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 33.57% and a net margin of 8.22%.The company’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.63 earnings per share. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.150-11.450 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

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

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.