The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Stock Holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 67,212 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 5,719 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Leidos were worth $10,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Leidos during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Leidos by 94.7% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 148 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Leidos in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 110.5% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Wexford Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Leidos in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,484 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.75, for a total transaction of $197,001.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Leidos Trading Up 2.8%

Leidos stock opened at $118.80 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market cap of $14.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $113.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.90. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $98.86 and a one year high of $205.77.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.25. Leidos had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 8.15%.The business had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, July 31st that authorizes the company to buyback 20,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LDOS shares. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Leidos from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $125.00 target price (down from $200.00) on shares of Leidos in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Leidos from $140.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Leidos from $210.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Leidos from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.80.

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.