Meridian Wealth Management LLC Makes New $355,000 Investment in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,180 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LDOS. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 100.1% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,837 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 4,421 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Leidos by 51.2% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 837,370 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $136,491,000 after buying an additional 283,558 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Leidos by 21.4% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 55,165 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,992,000 after acquiring an additional 9,710 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its holdings in Leidos by 188.2% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 8,274 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,207,000 after acquiring an additional 5,403 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Leidos by 97.2% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,904 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,692,000 after acquiring an additional 6,360 shares in the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Leidos Stock Up 0.5 %

Leidos stock opened at $165.51 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market cap of $22.08 billion, a PE ratio of 18.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.68. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $105.52 and a fifty-two week high of $202.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.32.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.97. The company had revenue of $4.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.31% and a net margin of 7.37%. Leidos’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. This is a boost from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Leidos’s payout ratio is presently 17.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Leidos news, Director Surya N. Mohapatra sold 2,748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.97, for a total value of $535,777.56. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,001 shares in the company, valued at $3,899,594.97. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,047 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.94, for a total transaction of $193,632.18. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,185,095.52. This represents a 14.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LDOS. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Leidos from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Leidos from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Leidos from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Leidos from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Leidos from $183.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.69.

Leidos Company 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.