Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Raised to Moderate Buy at Royal Bank Of Canada

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) was upgraded by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

LDOS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Leidos from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $178.00 price target on shares of Leidos and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.31.

Leidos Trading Up 0.1%

LDOS opened at $178.71 on Thursday. Leidos has a fifty-two week low of $123.62 and a fifty-two week high of $202.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $170.17 and its 200 day moving average is $152.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.71.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.58. Leidos had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 33.57%. The business had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.150-11.450 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Leidos will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 952 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.43, for a total transaction of $168,913.36. Following the sale, the director owned 21,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,738,095.24. The trade was a 4.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,000 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $356,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,137 shares in the company, valued at $1,804,892.85. The trade was a 16.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,975 shares of company stock valued at $4,078,740. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Leidos in the first quarter worth approximately $267,000. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Leidos by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,841 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,858,000 after buying an additional 6,418 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Leidos by 263.7% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,706 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,849,000 after buying an additional 9,938 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 437,535 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $63,026,000 after purchasing an additional 4,903 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 2,940.8% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,159 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.