Ritholtz Wealth Management Grows Stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 32.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,405 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,562 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Leidos were worth $1,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LDOS. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. REAP Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Leidos by 422.2% during the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos during the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos during the first quarter worth about $55,000. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other news, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.55, for a total transaction of $193,187.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,121,137.25. The trade was a 5.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LDOS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Leidos from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Leidos from $149.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Leidos from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, William Blair lowered Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Leidos currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.46.

Leidos Stock Performance

Shares of LDOS stock opened at $148.08 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average of $148.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $144.50. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.62 and a 52 week high of $202.90. The company has a market cap of $19.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.63.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.93% and a net margin of 7.53%. Leidos’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.10%.

Leidos Profile

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.