Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $132.42.

LDOS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Leidos from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Argus increased their price objective on Leidos from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Leidos from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Leidos from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Leidos from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,745 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.49, for a total value of $341,725.05. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,352 shares in the company, valued at $1,413,210.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,745 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.49, for a total value of $341,725.05. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,352 shares in the company, valued at $1,413,210.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David G. Fubini sold 7,874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.89, for a total value of $1,007,005.86. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,696 shares in the company, valued at $1,879,471.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leidos

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Leidos in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $18,976,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Leidos by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 245,665 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,591,000 after purchasing an additional 38,496 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Leidos by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,143,664 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $105,400,000 after purchasing an additional 82,447 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Leidos by 134.9% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,114 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 8,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Leidos by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 95,319 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,785,000 after purchasing an additional 12,839 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Price Performance

LDOS stock opened at $123.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.72 billion, a PE ratio of 87.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.70. Leidos has a 1 year low of $76.58 and a 1 year high of $131.50.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The aerospace company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 22.92% and a net margin of 1.29%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Leidos will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 107.04%.

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.