Van ECK Associates Corp Has $207.83 Million Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 12.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,018,349 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 277,954 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 1.61% of Leidos worth $207,829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LDOS. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in Leidos by 46.5% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,073 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Leidos by 86.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 14,250 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,248,000 after acquiring an additional 6,600 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Leidos by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Leidos by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 41,405 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,532,000 after acquiring an additional 6,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 222.3% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis now owns 8,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 5,625 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Leidos stock opened at $140.59 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $119.90 and its 200 day moving average is $139.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.64 billion, a PE ratio of 13.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 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 current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 7.80% and a return on equity of 30.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.21 EPS. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.200-12.500 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, July 31st that allows the company to repurchase 20,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Noel B. Geer sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total value of $1,406,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 34,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,820,980.84. This trade represents a 22.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Leidos from $138.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Leidos in a research report on Monday, August 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Leidos from $124.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Leidos from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Leidos currently has a consensus 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.