Insider Selling: Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Director Sells 952 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Director Gregory R. Dahlberg of Leidos Holdings, Inc. sold 952 shares at an average price of $177.43, reducing his position by 4.32% and retaining 21,068 shares valued at approximately $3.74 million.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.21, surpassing analysts’ expectations of $2.63, with revenue reaching $4.25 billion, reflecting a 2.9% increase year-over-year.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share has been declared, with the record date set for September 15th, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 0.9%.

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 952 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.43, for a total value of $168,913.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 21,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,738,095.24. The trade was a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Leidos Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of LDOS stock traded up $1.21 on Monday, hitting $178.84. The stock had a trading volume of 112,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,372,876. 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 1 year low of $123.62 and a 1 year high of $202.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.65. The company's 50 day moving average price is $161.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.21.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.63 EPS. The company's revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given 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 (DPR) is presently 15.12%.

Institutional Trading of Leidos

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,528,630 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $556,677,000 after purchasing an additional 111,813 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Leidos by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,909,142 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $460,203,000 after acquiring an additional 103,321 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Leidos by 29.8% in the first 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 during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Leidos by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,901,433 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $273,920,000 after purchasing an additional 155,481 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 10.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,877,020 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $253,262,000 after purchasing an additional 170,263 shares in the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Leidos from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $190.00 price target (up from $186.00) on shares of Leidos in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Leidos from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $179.46.

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.