Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS Holdings Lifted by Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 84.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,639 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 4,409 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $1,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Leidos by 94.7% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 148 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Leidos by 77.6% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 151 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Leidos by 110.5% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Leidos during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP bought a new position in Leidos during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Elizabeth A. Porter sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.78, for a total value of $317,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 49,476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,855,799.28. This represents a 3.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,484 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.75, for a total value of $197,001.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,345,686.75. This represents a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Leidos Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Leidos stock opened at $124.65 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $141.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.46. The company has a market cap of $15.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $121.20 and a 1 year high of $205.77.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 8.15%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.97 EPS. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.100-12.500 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America decreased their target price on Leidos from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Leidos in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $185.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday. Argus raised Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.50.

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.