Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Short Interest Down 28.0% in August

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,310,000 shares, a drop of 28.0% from the August 15th total of 1,820,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 847,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LDOS has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Leidos from $102.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. TheStreet upgraded shares of Leidos from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Leidos from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Leidos from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Leidos from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Leidos presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.50.

Leidos Price Performance

LDOS opened at $94.07 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $94.91 and a 200-day moving average of $90.09. The company has a market capitalization of $12.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.77. Leidos has a 1-year low of $76.58 and a 1-year high of $110.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The aerospace company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.72 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 4.77% and a return on equity of 20.97%. The company’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.59 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Leidos will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 28.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Harry M. Jansen Kraemer, Jr. sold 3,098 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Friday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total value of $300,351.10. Following the transaction, the director now owns 84,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,170,655.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leidos

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Leidos by 48.8% in the 2nd quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC now owns 27,331 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,418,000 after purchasing an additional 8,965 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 54,382 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,812,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 206,960 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $18,312,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 2,384.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,242 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Finally, GTS Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Leidos in the 2nd quarter valued at about $264,000. Institutional investors own 74.71% of the company’s stock.

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. It operates through three segments: Defense Solutions, Civil, and Health. The Defense Solutions segment offers national security solutions and systems for air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace for the U.S.