Manhattan West Asset Management LLC Boosts Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Manhattan West Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 24.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,686 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 7,617 shares during the period. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Leidos were worth $3,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LDOS. Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Leidos by 16,475.4% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,156,784 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $646,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,131,706 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,421,634 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $256,463,000 after purchasing an additional 22,013 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 25,505.4% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 42,505 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,668,000 after purchasing an additional 42,339 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos in the fourth quarter worth $318,839,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Leidos by 169.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 144,847 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $22,527,000 after buying an additional 90,991 shares in the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Leidos Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE LDOS opened at $141.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $117.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $141.19. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $98.86 and a twelve month high of $205.77. The company has a market capitalization of $17.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.23, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.52.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.81% and a net margin of 7.80%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.21 EPS. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.200-12.500 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Leidos Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Leidos news, Director Noel B. Geer sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 34,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,820,980.84. This trade represents a 22.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $165.00 target price on Leidos in a research report on Monday. Citigroup lifted their price target on Leidos from $138.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Leidos in a research report on Sunday, August 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Leidos from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Leidos from $152.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Leidos presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.93.

Leidos Company 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.