Bank of Nova Scotia Lowers Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Bank of Nova Scotia trimmed its position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 13.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,851 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 8,285 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Leidos were worth $5,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LDOS. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Leidos by 94.7% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 148 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in Leidos during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company's stock.

Leidos Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of Leidos stock opened at $134.76 on Wednesday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $98.86 and a 1 year high of $205.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $118.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.13. The company has a market capitalization of $16.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.52.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.21 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.200-12.500 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Leidos's dividend payout ratio is 16.04%.

Leidos declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, July 31st that permits the company to buyback 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LDOS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Leidos from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Leidos from $138.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $165.00 price target on shares of Leidos in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Leidos from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Leidos in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $162.93.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Noel B. Geer sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total transaction of $1,406,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 34,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,820,980.84. This trade represents a 22.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Leidos 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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