Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) CEO Buys $248,308.48 in Stock

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) CEO Thomas Arthur Bell bought 1,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $145.04 per share, for a total transaction of $248,308.48. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 22,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,248,605.92. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Leidos Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LDOS opened at $143.18 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.32. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $89.22 and a 52 week high of $155.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.72, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.68.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The aerospace company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $4.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.06 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 28.40% and a net margin of 2.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leidos

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Leidos by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,923,663 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $532,937,000 after purchasing an additional 39,174 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 5.8% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,430,264 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $449,592,000 after buying an additional 188,458 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,191,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Leidos by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,841,723 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $199,344,000 after acquiring an additional 45,079 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Leidos by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,185,694 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $128,340,000 after acquiring an additional 24,041 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on LDOS. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 price objective (up from $150.00) on shares of Leidos in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Leidos from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays upped their price objective on Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Leidos from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Leidos presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.25.

About Leidos

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.