Pzena Investment Management LLC Invests $25.52 Million in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 247,849 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,521,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned about 0.20% of Leidos at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Leidos by 46.5% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,073 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased 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 worth $2,248,000 after acquiring an additional 6,600 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased 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 worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Leidos by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 41,405 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,532,000 after purchasing an additional 6,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis lifted its position in Leidos by 222.3% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis now owns 8,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 5,625 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In other news, Director Noel B. Geer sold 10,000 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total value of $1,406,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 34,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,820,980.84. This trade represents a 22.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Leidos Stock Down 1.2%

Leidos stock opened at $142.17 on Tuesday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.86 and a 52 week high of $205.77. The stock has a market cap of $17.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $115.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 7.80% and a return on equity of 30.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.21 EPS. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.200-12.500 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 12.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, July 31st that authorizes the company to repurchase 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Leidos’s payout ratio is 16.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on LDOS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Leidos from $210.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Leidos from $152.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on Leidos from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings cut Leidos from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Leidos from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.93.

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.