Baird Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. has increased its stake in Leidos Holdings, owning 85,152 shares with a value of approximately $11.49 million.
• Recent earnings results show Leidos reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $4.25 billion.
• Leidos has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.9%.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 9.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85,152 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,099 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.07% of Leidos worth $11,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Leidos in the first quarter valued at $267,000. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 47.8% in the 4th quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,841 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,858,000 after buying an additional 6,418 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 263.7% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,706 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,849,000 after buying an additional 9,938 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 437,535 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $63,026,000 after buying an additional 4,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 2,940.8% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,159 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 2,088 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Leidos Stock Performance

Shares of Leidos stock traded up $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $178.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 697,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 683,352. The business's 50-day moving average price is $170.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.60. The firm has a market cap of $22.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.71. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.62 and a 52 week high of $202.90. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.58. Leidos had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 33.57%. The business had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.63 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.150-11.450 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Leidos's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Leidos news, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 952 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.43, for a total value of $168,913.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 21,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,738,095.24. This represents a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total value of $356,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,137 shares of the company's stock, 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 sold a total of 22,975 shares of company stock valued at $4,078,740 over the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LDOS. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Leidos from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $178.00 target price on shares of Leidos and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 price target (up from $186.00) on shares of Leidos in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Leidos from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $163.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Leidos presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $183.31.

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.