Heartland Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Heartland Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 32.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,726 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 21,448 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $7,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Leidos by 77.6% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 151 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Leidos by 94.7% during the 4th 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 purchased a new stake in Leidos during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in Leidos by 110.5% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Leidos during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LDOS opened at $121.57 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $139.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.08. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $121.20 and a 52 week high of $205.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.13, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.97 earnings per share. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.100-12.500 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on LDOS shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Leidos from $232.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Leidos from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Argus raised shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Leidos from $215.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Elizabeth A. Porter sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.78, for a total transaction of $317,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 49,476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,855,799.28. This trade represents a 3.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,484 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.75, for a total transaction of $197,001.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,137 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,686.75. This trade represents a 12.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.