Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS Shares Purchased by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 28.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 39,808 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,818 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $4,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Leidos during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Leidos by 94.7% in the fourth 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 stake in Leidos in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in Leidos during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP bought a new position in Leidos during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Leidos Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:LDOS opened at $139.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.52. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $98.86 and a 1-year high of $205.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $119.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.41.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.35. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.81% and a net margin of 7.80%.The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.21 earnings per share. The firm’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 anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, July 31st that authorizes the company to repurchase 20,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Leidos’s payout ratio is presently 16.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Noel B. Geer sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the director directly owned 34,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,820,980.84. The trade was a 22.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Leidos from $210.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on Leidos from $124.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup raised their target price on Leidos from $138.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Leidos from $152.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Leidos from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.93.

Leidos Profile

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.