Bank of Nova Scotia Grows Stock Holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 43.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,136 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,991 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 0.05% of Leidos worth $9,819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LDOS. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Leidos by 16,475.4% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,156,784 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $646,463,000 after buying an additional 4,131,706 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Leidos in the fourth quarter valued at $318,839,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Leidos by 998.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,097,724 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $170,718,000 after purchasing an additional 997,807 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 64.4% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,529,261 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $241,256,000 after purchasing an additional 598,974 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 2,924.4% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 405,181 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $73,095,000 after purchasing an additional 391,784 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LDOS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $125.00 target price on shares of Leidos in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Leidos from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered Leidos from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Leidos from $215.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $125.00 target price (down from $200.00) on shares of Leidos in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Leidos presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $163.80.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of LDOS stock opened at $112.31 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $14.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $98.86 and a 1-year high of $205.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $114.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $149.31.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The company's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.97 EPS. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.100-12.500 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Leidos's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.75%.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In other news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,484 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.75, for a total value of $197,001.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,345,686.75. The trade was a 12.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Leidos Company Profile

Leidos is an American technology and engineering company that provides services and solutions to government and commercial customers, with a strong focus on national security, defense, intelligence, and civil government markets. The company delivers systems integration, engineering, cybersecurity, software development, data analytics, cloud migration and managed IT services, as well as mission support for complex programs. Leidos' work spans areas such as C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), secure communications, sensors and systems engineering, and health IT solutions for public-sector healthcare programs.

Leidos traces its corporate roots to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and emerged as an independent, publicly traded company following a corporate separation in 2013.

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