Longbow Finance SA Acquires Shares of 20,207 Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Key Points

• Longbow Finance SA has acquired a new position in Leidos Holdings, Inc., purchasing 20,207 shares valued at approximately $2.73 million.
• Leidos reported an EPS of $2.97, exceeding analysts' expectations, and its quarterly revenue grew by 6.8% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, equating to an annualized dividend of $1.60 and a yield of 0.98%.

Longbow Finance SA purchased a new stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 20,207 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $2,727,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LDOS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Leidos during the 4th quarter worth approximately $266,419,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Leidos by 510.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 999,661 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $144,011,000 after acquiring an additional 835,930 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Leidos by 3,450.0% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 704,106 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $95,012,000 after acquiring an additional 684,272 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Leidos by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,630,448 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $378,942,000 after acquiring an additional 682,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Leidos by 29.8% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,336,222 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $315,250,000 after acquiring an additional 536,452 shares in the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In related news, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 1,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.55, for a total value of $193,187.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,195 shares in the company, valued at $3,121,137.25. The trade was a 5.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LDOS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Leidos from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Leidos from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Baird R W lowered shares of Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Leidos from $149.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Leidos from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $175.15.

Leidos Price Performance

Leidos stock traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $161.07. 185,747 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,407,825. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $123.62 and a one year high of $202.90. The stock has a market cap of $20.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $155.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.26.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Leidos's payout ratio is currently 16.10%.

Leidos Company 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.