Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. $LDOS

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 5.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,068 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $6,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Leidos during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. First Pacific Financial purchased a new position in shares of Leidos during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Leidos during the second quarter worth $29,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in Leidos in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 66.2% in the second quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. now owns 216 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research cut Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group increased their target price on Leidos from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America raised their price target on Leidos from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective (up from $186.00) on shares of Leidos in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Stephen Edward Hull sold 12,497 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.14, for a total value of $2,226,215.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 25,817 shares in the company, valued at $4,599,040.38. This trade represents a 32.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Stock Up 1.1%

LDOS opened at $196.89 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $187.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $25.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.69. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.62 and a 52 week high of $205.77.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.44. Leidos had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 33.02%. The company had revenue of $4.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.450-11.75 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Leidos’s payout ratio is presently 14.93%.

About Leidos

Leidos Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides services and solutions in the defense, intelligence, civil, and health markets in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Defense Solutions, Civil, and Health segments. The Defense Solutions segment offers national security solutions and systems for air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace for the U.S.