Diamant Asset Management Inc. Buys 4,131,706 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Key Points

• Diamant Asset Management dramatically increased its Leidos stake, buying 4.13 million additional shares and lifting its holdings to 4.16 million shares valued at about $646.5 million. The position now represents roughly 3.3% of Leidos and 2.1% of Diamant’s portfolio.
• Analyst sentiment is cautious: several firms cut ratings or lowered price targets, and MarketBeat data shows Leidos now carries an average “Hold” rating with a consensus target price of $177.92.
• Leidos reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share. The stock, however, has been under pressure and recently traded near its 12-month low at $101.62.

Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 16,475.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,156,784 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,131,706 shares during the quarter. Leidos accounts for about 2.1% of Diamant Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Diamant Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 3.30% of Leidos worth $646,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 46.5% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,073 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Leidos by 86.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 14,250 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,248,000 after buying an additional 6,600 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Leidos by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Leidos by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 41,405 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $6,532,000 after buying an additional 6,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis boosted its position in Leidos by 222.3% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis now owns 8,155 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,287,000 after buying an additional 5,625 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Leidos from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Leidos in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $125.00 target price (down from $200.00) on shares of Leidos in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Citigroup cut Leidos from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Leidos in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $177.92.

Insider Activity

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,484 shares of the company'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 transaction of $197,001.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,345,686.75. This represents a 12.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Elizabeth A. Porter sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.78, for a total value of $317,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 49,476 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,855,799.28. This represents a 3.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Leidos Stock Performance

NYSE:LDOS opened at $101.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $127.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.54. The stock has a market cap of $12.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.50. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.53 and a twelve month high of $205.77.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.25. Leidos had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The business had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.97 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.100-12.500 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Leidos's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.75%.

About Leidos

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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