Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 21,811 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 154,784 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 21,811 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Leidos were worth $29,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Leidos in the third quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Leidos by 0.3% during the third quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 55,239 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $10,438,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Leidos in the 3rd quarter worth $223,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,501 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Leidos in the 3rd quarter valued at $14,859,000. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Leidos Stock Down 1.2%

Leidos stock opened at $191.07 on Friday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.62 and a fifty-two week high of $205.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.69. The stock has a market cap of $24.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.58.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.44. Leidos had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 33.02%. The firm had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.450-11.75 EPS. Research analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is 16.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Leidos in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Leidos in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Leidos from $218.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Leidos in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $213.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Leidos news, insider Elizabeth A. Porter sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.21, for a total value of $576,630.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,414,500.75. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.