Citigroup Inc. Buys 21,762 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. by 13.5% during Q1, owning 183,546 shares valued at approximately $24.77 million.
• Leidos reported Q2 earnings of $3.21 per share, beating estimates, with revenue up 2.9% year-over-year, totaling $4.25 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, indicating an annual yield of 0.9%.

Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 183,546 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,762 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Leidos worth $24,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 422.2% during the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 260.0% during the first quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 234 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos during the first quarter worth approximately $54,000. Institutional investors own 76.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LDOS. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Leidos from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 price objective (up previously from $186.00) on shares of Leidos in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered 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. Baird R W lowered shares of Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Leidos from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Leidos presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $179.46.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 952 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.43, for a total value of $168,913.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 21,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,738,095.24. The trade was a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total value of $356,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,137 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,804,892.85. This represents a 16.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,478 shares of company stock worth $1,852,525. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Leidos Stock Performance

LDOS traded down $0.76 during trading on Friday, reaching $177.68. 849,301 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 913,926. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.62 and a fifty-two week high of $202.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $161.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.17. The company has a market capitalization of $22.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.65.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.58. Leidos had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 33.57%. The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.63 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Leidos's payout ratio is currently 15.12%.

About Leidos

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.