Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS Shares Bought by NewEdge Advisors LLC

Key Points

• NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stock position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. by 65.9% in Q1, now holding 33,271 shares valued at approximately $4.49 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Pacer Advisors and Massachusetts Financial Services, significantly increased their stakes in Leidos, indicating strong interest in the company.
• Leidos recently posted earnings of $3.21 per share for the last quarter, beating expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 to be paid on September 30th.

NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 65.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,271 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,211 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Leidos were worth $4,490,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Leidos by 60.8% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 365,331 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $49,298,000 after purchasing an additional 138,122 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Leidos in the first quarter worth approximately $4,565,000. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its position in Leidos by 13.2% in the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 48,938 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $6,604,000 after acquiring an additional 5,723 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Leidos by 3.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,183,157 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $159,342,000 after acquiring an additional 34,328 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Leidos by 3.4% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,753 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,340,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,804,892.85. This trade represents a 16.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen Edward Hull sold 12,497 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.14, for a total value of $2,226,215.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 25,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,599,040.38. The trade was a 32.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,975 shares of company stock worth $4,078,740. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Leidos Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of LDOS traded down $1.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $184.02. 541,385 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 624,320. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.62 and a 52-week high of $202.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.59. The firm has a market cap of $23.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.24 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 33.57% and a net margin of 8.22%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.63 earnings per share. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.150-11.450 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Baird R W lowered Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $178.00 price objective on Leidos and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Leidos from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Leidos from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $183.31.

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.