JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $568.80 Million Stock Holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its Leidos stake by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, but still owned 3.15 million shares valued at about $568.8 million.
• Leidos insiders have also been selling shares, including director Gary Stephen May and insider Elizabeth A. Porter, while institutional ownership remains high at 76.12%.
• The company beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, but analysts have turned more cautious, with several cutting price targets; the stock recently traded near its 52-week low at $121.57.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,153,001 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 264,809 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 2.47% of Leidos worth $568,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 77.6% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 151 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Leidos by 94.7% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 148 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in Leidos by 110.5% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,484 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.75, for a total transaction of $197,001.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,137 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,686.75. This represents a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Elizabeth A. Porter sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.78, for a total value of $317,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 49,476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,855,799.28. This represents a 3.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on LDOS. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Leidos from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Leidos from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Leidos from $205.00 to $193.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Leidos in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Leidos from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $187.50.

Leidos Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of LDOS stock opened at $121.57 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $139.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.08. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $121.20 and a twelve month high of $205.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.13, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.50.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.25. Leidos had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 8.15%.The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue 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 12.25 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Leidos's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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