Royal Bank of Canada Sells 7,274 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Royal Bank of Canada reduced its holdings in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,880 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 7,274 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.17% of Leidos worth $32,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Leidos by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,022,359 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,086,434,000 after purchasing an additional 217,141 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Leidos by 16,475.4% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,156,784 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $646,463,000 after buying an additional 4,131,706 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Leidos by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,538,488 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $636,097,000 after buying an additional 64,909 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Leidos by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,859,616 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $289,193,000 after buying an additional 47,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Leidos during the 4th quarter worth about $318,839,000. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LDOS opened at $118.80 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $113.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $145.90. The company has a market cap of $14.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $98.86 and a twelve month high of $205.77.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.25. Leidos had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 8.15%.The company had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.3 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is 15.75%.

Leidos declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, July 31st that authorizes the company to repurchase 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LDOS. Weiss Ratings cut Leidos from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Leidos from $178.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Leidos from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Leidos from $160.00 to $115.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Leidos presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.80.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,484 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director owned 10,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,345,686.75. This trade represents a 12.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.