Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS Shares Bought by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. by 110.7%, owning 125,870 shares valued at approximately $16.96 million after acquiring an additional 66,124 shares in the first quarter.
• Directors at Leidos have recently sold shares, with Gregory R. Dahlberg and Gary Stephen May reducing their respective holdings by 4.32% and 16.48%, indicating insider selling trends.
• Leidos reported earnings of $3.21 per share, exceeding analyst estimates, with revenue of $4.25 billion for the last quarter, reflecting a 2.9% year-over-year increase.

Aberdeen Group plc raised its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 110.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 125,870 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 66,124 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.10% of Leidos worth $16,957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Leidos by 7.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,416,817 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $461,065,000 after purchasing an additional 251,245 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 29.8% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,336,222 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $315,250,000 after buying an additional 536,452 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 10.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,877,020 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $253,262,000 after buying an additional 170,263 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,208,015 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $174,027,000 after buying an additional 23,153 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 130.3% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 711,437 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $96,001,000 after buying an additional 402,454 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on LDOS. UBS Group upped their price target on Leidos from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 target price (up from $186.00) on shares of Leidos in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Leidos from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Leidos from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $179.46.

Leidos Stock Performance

LDOS stock traded up $1.2630 during trading on Friday, hitting $181.7030. 608,930 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,358,198. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.65. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.62 and a 52 week high of $202.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $163.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $149.16. 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 (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.24 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 33.57%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.63 EPS. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.150-11.450 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Leidos's payout ratio is currently 15.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 16.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Stephen Edward Hull sold 7,526 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.39, for a total value of $1,327,511.14. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,670,983.59. This trade represents a 22.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,852,525 over the last 90 days. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.