Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Short Interest Up 25.3% in March

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 3,764,705 shares, an increase of 25.3% from the February 26th total of 3,004,079 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,182,402 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other news, insider Elizabeth A. Porter sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.21, for a total value of $576,630.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,414,500.75. This trade represents a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leidos

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LDOS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Leidos in the 4th quarter valued at $318,839,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 3rd quarter worth $242,464,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Leidos by 64.4% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,529,261 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $241,256,000 after purchasing an additional 598,974 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Leidos by 2,924.4% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 405,181 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $73,095,000 after purchasing an additional 391,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in Leidos by 663.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 355,824 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $64,191,000 after purchasing an additional 309,206 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Trading Up 0.8%

LDOS stock traded up $1.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $156.84. 164,618 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,127,118. Leidos has a one year low of $128.32 and a one year high of $205.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.78 billion, a PE ratio of 14.06, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $175.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.73.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The aerospace company reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.19. Leidos had a return on equity of 32.95% and a net margin of 8.43%.The company had revenue of $4.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.37 EPS. Leidos’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.050-12.450 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Leidos will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LDOS shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Leidos in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Leidos from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Leidos from $218.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Leidos from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Leidos in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.00.

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.