Insider Selling: Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Director Sells 10,000 Shares

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Director Noel Geer sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 34,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,820,980.84. The trade was a 22.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Leidos Price Performance

NYSE LDOS traded up $2.32 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $142.70. 1,652,860 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,344,383. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.86 and a 52-week high of $205.77. The company has a market capitalization of $17.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.52. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $114.28 and its 200-day moving average is $143.09.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 7.80% and a return on equity of 30.81%. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.21 EPS. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.200-12.500 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 16.04%.

Leidos announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, July 31st that authorizes the company to repurchase 20,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on LDOS shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Leidos from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Leidos in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Leidos from $138.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Leidos from $152.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.27.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leidos

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LDOS. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Leidos in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,024,436,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 16,475.4% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,156,784 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $646,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,131,706 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Leidos in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $318,839,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Leidos by 998.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,097,724 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $170,718,000 after purchasing an additional 997,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Leidos in the second quarter valued at approximately $68,998,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

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.