40,590 Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS Shares Sold by Insight Wealth Strategies LLC

Key Points

• Insight Wealth Strategies cut its Leidos stake by 95%, selling 40,590 shares and retaining 2,157 shares valued at approximately $263,000. Other institutional investors increased their positions, with institutions and hedge funds owning 76.12% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Leidos has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $156.14, although recent targets ranged from $130 to $165.
• Leidos reported quarterly earnings and revenue above expectations, while maintaining a $0.43 quarterly dividend and authorizing a 20-million-share repurchase program. Shares recently traded at $121.56, well below their 52-week high of $205.77.

Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 95.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,157 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 40,590 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC's holdings in Leidos were worth $263,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 50.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,849 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Leidos by 6.2% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,218 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $758,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its holdings in Leidos by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 267,358 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $32,572,000 after buying an additional 8,376 shares during the period. CX Institutional raised its position in shares of Leidos by 12,077.1% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 95,712 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $11,661,000 after buying an additional 94,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 55,865 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $5,752,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on LDOS shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Leidos from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company set a $165.00 price target on Leidos in a report on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Leidos in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Leidos from $161.00 to $141.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Leidos from $124.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $156.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Noel Geer sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total value of $1,406,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 34,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,820,980.84. This represents a 22.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary May sold 1,000 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total transaction of $140,850.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,437,233.40. This represents a 8.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LDOS traded up $2.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $121.56. 354,319 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,318,006. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $98.86 and a 1-year high of $205.77. The company has a market capitalization of $15.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business's 50 day moving average is $131.13 and its 200-day moving average is $129.45.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.35. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.81% and a net margin of 7.80%.The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.21 EPS. Leidos's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. Leidos's payout ratio is 16.04%.

Leidos announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, July 31st that allows the company to repurchase 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Leidos Company Profile

Leidos Holdings, Inc is a technology, engineering and services company that provides solutions to government and commercial customers. The company operates primarily in the defense, intelligence, civil and health markets, supporting customers with mission-critical systems, digital modernization, cybersecurity, data analytics and technical services.

Its offerings include defense and intelligence technologies, command-and-control systems, transportation and infrastructure solutions, health information technology, aviation and security services, and scientific and engineering support.

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