Northern Trust Corp Sells 7,892 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has reduced its holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. by 0.7%, now owning approximately 0.93% of the company, valued at $161.9 million.
• A significant number of institutional investors have increased their positions in Leidos during Q1, with Pacer Advisors Inc. leading with a 3,450% increase.
• Leidos reported earnings surpassing estimates with earnings per share of $3.21 and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, effective September 30th.

Northern Trust Corp lessened its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,200,123 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 7,892 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.93% of Leidos worth $161,945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos during the first quarter worth $267,000. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,841 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,858,000 after acquiring an additional 6,418 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 263.7% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,706 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,849,000 after acquiring an additional 9,938 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 437,535 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $63,026,000 after acquiring an additional 4,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 2,940.8% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,159 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 2,088 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.12% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other Leidos news, insider Stephen Edward Hull sold 7,526 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.39, for a total value of $1,327,511.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 26,481 shares in the company, valued at $4,670,983.59. This trade represents a 22.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 952 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.43, for a total transaction of $168,913.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 21,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,738,095.24. This trade represents a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,478 shares of company stock worth $1,852,525. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on LDOS. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Leidos from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Leidos from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Leidos from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $190.00 target price (up from $186.00) on shares of Leidos in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $179.46.

Leidos Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE LDOS traded down $0.1780 during trading on Monday, hitting $181.5620. 477,024 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 926,807. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $164.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $149.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.50. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.62 and a 12-month high of $202.90. The firm has a market cap of $23.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.65.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 33.57%. Leidos's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.63 earnings per share. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.150-11.450 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Leidos's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.12%.

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.