Leidos Holdings, Inc. (LDOS) – What Are Researchers Saying About This Stock?

Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $151.50.

Several analysts recently weighed in on LDOS shares. Weiss Ratings raised Leidos from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Leidos in a report on Monday, August 17th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Leidos from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Leidos in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Leidos from $124.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other news, Director Gary May sold 1,000 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $140,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,204 shares in the company, valued at $1,437,233.40. The trade was a 8.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Noel Geer sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total transaction of $1,406,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 34,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,820,980.84. This trade represents a 22.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leidos

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LDOS. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Leidos in the first quarter worth about $20,225,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 169.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 144,847 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $22,527,000 after acquiring an additional 90,991 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos during the second quarter worth $1,024,436,000. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 55.1% during the second quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 42,747 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,406,000 after acquiring an additional 15,192 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 165,512 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $17,043,000 after purchasing an additional 14,049 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of LDOS opened at $132.89 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $129.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.19. The stock has a market cap of $16.68 billion, a PE ratio of 11.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.60. Leidos has a 1-year low of $98.86 and a 1-year high of $205.00.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The aerospace company reported $3.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.58. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.81% and a net margin of 7.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.05 EPS. Leidos’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Leidos will post 12.62 EPS for the current year.

Leidos announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, July 31st that authorizes the company to buy back 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This is a boost from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.38%.

Leidos Company Profile

Leidos Holdings, Inc (NYSE: LDOS) is a technology, engineering and science company that provides services and solutions to government and commercial customers. Its work supports defense, intelligence, civil government, health and transportation missions, with offerings that include information technology modernization, systems integration, cybersecurity, data analytics, artificial intelligence, engineering and mission operations.

The company also provides health technology and scientific services, transportation management systems, aviation and security solutions, and support for complex government programs.