Johnson Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Johnson Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 28.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,308 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 3,746 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LDOS. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Leidos in the second quarter worth $842,000. Foster & Motley Inc. bought a new position in shares of Leidos in the second quarter worth about $3,230,000. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Leidos in the second quarter worth about $349,000. First National Bank of Omaha purchased a new position in Leidos in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,007,000. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Leidos in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,521,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on LDOS shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Leidos from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Leidos from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Leidos from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Leidos from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 target price on shares of Leidos in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Leidos has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.93.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In related news, Director Noel B. Geer sold 10,000 shares of Leidos 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 34,274 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Leidos Stock Performance

Shares of LDOS stock opened at $146.34 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.52. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.86 and a 12-month high of $205.77. The company has a market cap of $18.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

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

Leidos Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.04%.

Leidos declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, July 31st that authorizes the company to buyback 20,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.