Gary Stephen May Sells 1,000 Shares of Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Stock

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total transaction of $140,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,437,233.40. This trade represents a 8.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Leidos Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of LDOS stock traded down $5.53 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $133.65. 988,976 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,323,852. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.86 and a 52-week high of $205.77. The stock has a market cap of $16.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $121.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.41.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.81% and a net margin of 7.80%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.21 EPS. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.200-12.500 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.38 EPS for the current year.

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

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on Leidos from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Leidos from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Leidos from $210.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Leidos from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Leidos in a research report on Monday, August 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.93.

Institutional Trading of Leidos

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Leidos during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new position in Leidos during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in Leidos during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Leidos

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.