Empowered Funds LLC Cuts Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Empowered Funds LLC trimmed its position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 47.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 72,080 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 65,048 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Leidos worth $11,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Leidos by 3,450.0% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 704,106 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $95,012,000 after purchasing an additional 684,272 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Leidos in the 1st quarter worth about $45,665,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Leidos by 262.9% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 459,501 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $62,005,000 after buying an additional 332,882 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,416,817 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $461,065,000 after acquiring an additional 251,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC bought a new position in shares of Leidos in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,881,000. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Leidos in a research note on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Leidos from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Leidos currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In related news, insider Stephen Edward Hull sold 12,497 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.14, for a total value of $2,226,215.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 25,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,599,040.38. The trade was a 32.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Stock Performance

LDOS stock opened at $189.20 on Wednesday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.62 and a twelve month high of $205.77. The firm has a market cap of $24.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.69. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $189.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $171.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 33.02%. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.450-11.75 EPS. Analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is 14.93%.

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.