Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS Shares Acquired by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 47.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 415,545 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 133,836 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.33% of Leidos worth $42,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Leidos by 94.7% in 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 during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Wexford Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Leidos during the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Leidos during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LDOS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Leidos from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered Leidos from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Leidos in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Leidos from $210.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.93.

Leidos Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE LDOS opened at $137.47 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $118.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.79. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.86 and a 52-week high of $205.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.52.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.35. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.81% and a net margin of 7.80%.The business had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.21 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.200-12.500 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

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

Leidos declared that its board has initiated 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 reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In related news, Director Noel B. Geer sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total transaction of $1,406,600.00. Following the sale, the director owned 34,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,820,980.84. This represents a 22.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is currently 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.