NewEdge Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Key Points

• NewEdge Advisors cut its Leidos stake by 40.4% in the first quarter, selling 10,574 shares and retaining 15,622 shares valued at approximately $2.43 million. Institutional investors collectively own 76.12% of the company.
• Leidos reported quarterly earnings of $3.26 per share, beating estimates of $2.91, while revenue rose 7.2% year over year to $4.56 billion. The company guided for fiscal 2026 EPS of $12.20–$12.50.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $160.27, compared with the stock’s recent price of $143.89. Leidos also declared a $0.43 quarterly dividend and authorized a buyback of up to 20 million shares.

NewEdge Advisors LLC decreased its position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 40.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,622 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 10,574 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Leidos were worth $2,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Leidos by 94.7% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 148 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Leidos during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in Leidos by 110.5% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Leidos in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Leidos during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on LDOS. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Leidos from $138.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Leidos from $205.00 to $193.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Leidos in a research report on Sunday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 price target on Leidos in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Leidos from $152.00 to $132.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $160.27.

Leidos Stock Up 0.9%

LDOS opened at $143.89 on Friday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.86 and a 12 month high of $205.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $115.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.52.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.35. Leidos had a net margin of 7.80% and a return on equity of 30.81%. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.21 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.200-12.500 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Leidos's payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Leidos declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, July 31st that allows the company to repurchase 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In other news, Director Noel B. Geer sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total transaction of $1,406,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 34,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,820,980.84. This represents a 22.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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