Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. Invests $2.56 Million in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 16,200 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,556,000. Leidos comprises approximately 1.7% of Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Leidos by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 968 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise raised its stake in Leidos by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 1,566 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC raised its stake in Leidos by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 5,134 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Leidos by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,900,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Leidos by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LDOS shares. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target (up from $186.00) on shares of Leidos in a research note on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Leidos from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $178.00 price target on shares of Leidos and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Leidos has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 952 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.43, for a total value of $168,913.36. Following the sale, the director owned 21,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,738,095.24. The trade was a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,804,892.85. This represents a 16.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,975 shares of company stock valued at $4,078,740 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:LDOS opened at $184.95 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $176.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $158.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 33.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.63 earnings per share. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.150-11.450 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Leidos’s payout ratio is presently 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.