Panagora Asset Management Inc. Sells 152,109 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Leidos Holdings by 21.9% during the first quarter, holding 543,668 shares valued at approximately $73.36 million.
• Leidos reported a Q2 earnings per share of $3.21, exceeding analysts' estimates of $2.63, along with a revenue of $4.25 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, which will be paid on September 30th, representing an annual yield of 0.9%.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 21.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 543,668 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 152,109 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.42% of Leidos worth $73,363,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Leidos by 9.1% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 968 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise grew its holdings in Leidos by 6.2% in the first quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 1,566 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Leidos by 1.9% in the first quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 5,134 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Global Financial Private Client LLC grew its holdings in Leidos by 1.4% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 7,085 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $956,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Leidos by 9.2% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LDOS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Leidos from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $163.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Leidos from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (up previously from $186.00) on shares of Leidos in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Leidos has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $179.46.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Stephen Edward Hull sold 7,526 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.39, for a total transaction of $1,327,511.14. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,481 shares in the company, valued at $4,670,983.59. This represents a 22.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $356,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,804,892.85. This trade represents a 16.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,478 shares of company stock worth $1,852,525 over the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Leidos Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:LDOS traded down $0.48 during trading on Monday, reaching $180.88. 671,024 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 889,780. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $168.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.43. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.62 and a 52-week high of $202.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market cap of $23.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.71.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.63 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Leidos's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.12%.

Leidos 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.