Corton Capital Inc. Makes New $277,000 Investment in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,756 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Leidos in the first quarter worth about $27,000. First Pacific Financial purchased a new position in shares of Leidos during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Leidos during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Leidos by 260.0% during the first quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 234 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of Leidos during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other news, insider Stephen Edward Hull sold 12,497 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.14, for a total transaction of $2,226,215.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 25,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,599,040.38. The trade was a 32.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.43, for a total transaction of $168,913.36. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,738,095.24. This represents a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,975 shares of company stock worth $4,078,740. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of LDOS opened at $190.54 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $24.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.69. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.62 and a twelve month high of $202.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a 50 day moving average of $186.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.72.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 33.57%. Leidos’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.63 earnings per share. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.150-11.450 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This is an increase from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Leidos’s payout ratio is presently 15.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus raised their target price on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Truist Financial set a $195.00 target price on shares of Leidos in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Leidos from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.38.

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.