Aristides Capital LLC Raises Stock Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Aristides Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 28.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 3,062 shares during the period. Leidos accounts for about 0.6% of Aristides Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Aristides Capital LLC’s holdings in Leidos were worth $2,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LDOS. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Leidos by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,686 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Leidos by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,779 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Leidos by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 130,024 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $14,074,000 after buying an additional 7,352 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Leidos in the fourth quarter valued at $1,819,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Leidos by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 213,264 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $23,084,000 after acquiring an additional 5,648 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In related news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.02, for a total value of $144,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,622,241.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Leidos news, CEO Thomas Arthur Bell bought 1,712 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $145.04 per share, for a total transaction of $248,308.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,248,605.92. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.02, for a total transaction of $144,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at $1,622,241.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LDOS shares. Barclays raised their target price on Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Leidos from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial increased their target price on Leidos from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Leidos from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Leidos from $168.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.08.

Leidos Stock Performance

LDOS opened at $163.00 on Tuesday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $89.22 and a twelve month high of $163.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of 70.26, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $152.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.42.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The aerospace company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.36. Leidos had a return on equity of 28.40% and a net margin of 2.72%. The business had revenue of $4.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 8.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.52%.

Leidos Company Profile

Leidos Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides services and solutions in the defense, intelligence, civil, and health markets in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Defense Solutions, Civil, and Health segments. The Defense Solutions segment offers national security solutions and systems for air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace for the U.S.