Plato Investment Management Ltd Makes New Investment in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,435 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Leidos by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 1,337 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in Leidos by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 381 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in Leidos by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 1,855 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 469 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Glenmede Investment Management LP boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 3.2% in the third quarter. Glenmede Investment Management LP now owns 2,240 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of Leidos stock opened at $143.81 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $115.83 and a 200 day moving average of $141.81. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.86 and a 12 month high of $205.77. The firm has a market cap of $18.05 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41, 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for 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 revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.21 EPS. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.200-12.500 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Leidos announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, July 31st that allows the company to repurchase 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on LDOS. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $125.00 price objective (down from $200.00) on shares of Leidos in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Leidos in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 price target on Leidos in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup raised their price target on Leidos from $138.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Leidos from $210.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Noel B. Geer sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,820,980.84. This represents a 22.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

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.