Aviva PLC Purchases 9,139 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Aviva PLC boosted its position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 10.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 97,665 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,139 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Leidos were worth $15,408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LDOS. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 4.3% during the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,627 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Leidos by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 228 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of Leidos by 35.9% in the 2nd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 303 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its position in shares of Leidos by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,657 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. increased its stake in shares of Leidos by 66.2% during the second quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. now owns 216 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other news, insider Stephen Edward Hull sold 12,497 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.14, for a total transaction of $2,226,215.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,817 shares in the company, valued at $4,599,040.38. This trade represents a 32.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 note on Wednesday, August 6th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Leidos in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Argus lifted their target price 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Leidos from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.23.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of LDOS opened at $198.33 on Wednesday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.62 and a fifty-two week high of $205.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.42. The stock has a market cap of $25.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $4.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 33.02% and a net margin of 8.11%. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.450-11.75 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 14.93%.

Leidos Company Profile

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.