Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 6.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,411,312 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 145,826 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 1.89% of Leidos worth $455,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in Leidos by 46.5% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,073 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Leidos by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 41,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,513,000 after purchasing an additional 2,068 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 35.7% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 20,394 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,217,000 after purchasing an additional 5,368 shares during the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Leidos in the second quarter valued at $1,026,000. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in Leidos by 32.9% in the second quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 6,967 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after buying an additional 1,724 shares in the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of LDOS opened at $179.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.63. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.32 and a fifty-two week high of $205.77. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $186.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.70.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The aerospace company reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.19. Leidos had a return on equity of 32.95% and a net margin of 8.43%.The firm had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.050-12.450 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 15.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Leidos from $218.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Leidos from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Leidos from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Leidos in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Leidos currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.18.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other Leidos news, insider Elizabeth A. Porter sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.21, for a total transaction of $576,630.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 38,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,414,500.75. This represents a 7.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.69% 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.