Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 36,471 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 6.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 545,204 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 36,471 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $84,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Leidos by 46.5% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,073 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 86.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 14,250 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,248,000 after acquiring an additional 6,600 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Leidos by 20.2% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 41,405 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,532,000 after acquiring an additional 6,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis increased its position in shares of Leidos by 222.3% in the second quarter. Natixis now owns 8,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 5,625 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In related news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,484 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.75, for a total transaction of $197,001.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,345,686.75. The trade was a 12.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Price Performance

NYSE:LDOS opened at $108.27 on Friday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.86 and a 12-month high of $205.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $116.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.25. Leidos had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 8.15%.The company had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.100-12.500 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LDOS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Leidos from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $125.00 price objective (down from $200.00) on shares of Leidos in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Leidos from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Leidos from $140.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Leidos presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.80.

About Leidos

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.