SG Americas Securities LLC Increases Holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 263.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,706 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,938 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Leidos were worth $1,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Leidos by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 46,969 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,787,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 177.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 835 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 50.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 792 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Leidos during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,560,000. Finally, Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Leidos in the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other news, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.55, for a total transaction of $193,187.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,121,137.25. This represents a 5.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LDOS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird cut Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $163.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. William Blair downgraded Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Leidos from $149.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.46.

Leidos Stock Performance

LDOS stock opened at $149.12 on Monday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.62 and a 1-year high of $202.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $147.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.63. The company has a market capitalization of $19.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.50. Leidos had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. The business had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.10%.

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.