Profund Advisors LLC Invests $259,000 in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Profund Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,643 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Leidos by 3,450.0% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 704,106 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $95,012,000 after purchasing an additional 684,272 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 1st quarter worth $45,665,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 262.9% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 459,501 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $62,005,000 after purchasing an additional 332,882 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Leidos by 7.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,416,817 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $461,065,000 after buying an additional 251,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC acquired a new stake in Leidos in the first quarter valued at $29,881,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LDOS. Jefferies Financial Group raised Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Leidos from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Leidos in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research cut shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Leidos in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.23.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In other news, insider Stephen Edward Hull sold 12,497 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.14, for a total value of $2,226,215.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 25,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,599,040.38. This represents a 32.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Trading Down 0.1%

LDOS opened at $191.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.62 and a 52 week high of $205.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $189.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.20. The firm has a market cap of $24.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.69.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $4.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 33.02%. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.450-11.75 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.93%.

Leidos 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.