Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $650,000 Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Key Points

• Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC made a new investment of approximately $650,000 in Leidos Holdings, acquiring 4,820 shares during the first quarter.
• Several other hedge funds, including Sowell Financial Services LLC and Invesco Ltd., have also recently increased their positions in Leidos, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Leidos reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.21, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, effective September 30th.

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,820 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $650,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Leidos by 356.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 44,432 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $6,401,000 after purchasing an additional 34,690 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 49.1% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 270,052 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $38,904,000 after acquiring an additional 88,929 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Leidos by 38.2% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 37,448 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $5,395,000 after buying an additional 10,347 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 25,789 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,822,000 after buying an additional 10,926 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 145,467 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $20,956,000 after buying an additional 31,247 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on LDOS. Stifel Nicolaus set a $178.00 target price on shares of Leidos and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Leidos from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Leidos from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $179.46.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of Leidos stock traded down $0.65 on Tuesday, reaching $176.49. 258,935 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,387,265. The firm's 50 day moving average is $158.33 and its 200-day moving average is $147.21. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $123.62 and a one year high of $202.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market cap of $22.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.65.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion during 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 was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.63 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.12%.

Leidos Profile

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.