Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $1.01 Million Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,011,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Leidos during the 4th quarter worth about $318,839,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Leidos in the 3rd quarter valued at about $242,464,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 997,807 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Leidos by 64.4% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,529,261 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $241,256,000 after acquiring an additional 598,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Leidos by 2,924.4% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 405,181 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $73,095,000 after acquiring an additional 391,784 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE LDOS opened at $108.58 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $122.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.63. The stock has a market cap of $13.66 billion, a PE ratio of 9.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 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 52-week low of $98.86 and a 52-week high of $205.77.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.100-12.500 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Leidos’s payout ratio is presently 15.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Elizabeth A. Porter sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.78, for a total value of $317,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 49,476 shares in the company, valued at $7,855,799.28. This represents a 3.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,484 shares of the 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 sale, the director owned 10,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,345,686.75. This represents a 12.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LDOS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Leidos in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Leidos in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Leidos from $178.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Argus raised shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.08.

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.