William Blair Brokers Reduce Earnings Estimates for Leidos

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) – Research analysts at William Blair cut their Q4 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Leidos in a research report issued on Tuesday, November 4th. William Blair analyst L. Dipalma now forecasts that the aerospace company will post earnings of $2.44 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.55. The consensus estimate for Leidos’ current full-year earnings is $10.62 per share.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.44. Leidos had a return on equity of 33.02% and a net margin of 8.11%.The business had revenue of $4.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.450-11.75 EPS.

LDOS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research lowered Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Leidos in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Argus lifted their target price on Leidos from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Leidos from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $196.25.

Leidos Trading Down 2.3%

NYSE:LDOS opened at $194.96 on Thursday. Leidos has a fifty-two week low of $123.62 and a fifty-two week high of $205.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.01 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.69. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.71.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,528,630 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $556,677,000 after acquiring an additional 111,813 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,909,142 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $460,203,000 after acquiring an additional 103,321 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Leidos by 29.8% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,336,222 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $315,250,000 after purchasing an additional 536,452 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Leidos by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,877,020 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $253,262,000 after purchasing an additional 170,263 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Leidos in the 2nd quarter valued at $261,501,000. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.43, for a total transaction of $168,913.36. Following the transaction, the director directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen Edward Hull sold 12,497 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.14, for a total value of $2,226,215.58. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,817 shares in the company, valued at $4,599,040.38. The trade was a 32.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 22,975 shares of company stock valued at $4,078,740 in the last 90 days. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Leidos’s payout ratio is presently 15.12%.

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.