Brighton Jones LLC Buys 6,004 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 6,004 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $732,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ethic Inc. boosted its position in Leidos by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 21,529 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,623,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the period. StoneX Group Inc. bought a new stake in Leidos in the 3rd quarter worth $338,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Leidos by 12.6% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Leidos by 34.9% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 5,774 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $703,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP purchased a new position in shares of Leidos in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Leidos Stock Performance

Shares of LDOS stock opened at $131.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.72, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $128.83 and a 200 day moving average of $139.05. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.86 and a 52 week high of $205.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The aerospace company reported $3.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 31.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.05 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, July 31st that authorizes the company to repurchase 20,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 15th. This is a positive change from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Leidos’s payout ratio is presently 15.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other news, Director Gary May sold 1,000 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total transaction of $140,850.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,437,233.40. The trade was a 8.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Leidos from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on Leidos from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 price target on Leidos in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Leidos from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.29.

About Leidos

Leidos Holdings, Inc. is a technology and engineering company that provides services and solutions to government and commercial customers. Its work spans defense, intelligence, civil government and health, with offerings in areas such as information technology, cybersecurity, data analytics, engineering and mission software. The company also develops and integrates systems and equipment for complex missions, including defense and aviation applications, and provides technology and services to support government health programs and healthcare organizations.