Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $202.8182.

A number of research analysts have commented on LDOS shares. Argus upgraded Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Leidos from $220.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Leidos in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Leidos from $218.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other Leidos news, insider Elizabeth A. Porter sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.78, for a total transaction of $317,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 49,476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,855,799.28. This trade represents a 3.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leidos

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Leidos by 35.3% during the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,798 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,213,000 after buying an additional 2,033 shares during the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its holdings in Leidos by 27.1% during the first quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 36,122 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,618,000 after buying an additional 7,713 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Leidos during the first quarter worth about $1,011,000. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Leidos during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC boosted its holdings in Leidos by 16.5% during the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 8,504 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,323,000 after buying an additional 1,207 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Trading Up 0.5%

LDOS traded up $0.74 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $155.56. The stock had a trading volume of 98,349 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,068,966. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.82. Leidos has a 52 week low of $138.55 and a 52 week high of $205.77.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The aerospace company reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $4.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 32.95% and a net margin of 8.43%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.37 EPS. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.050-12.450 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Leidos will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.45%.

About Leidos

Leidos is an American technology and engineering company that provides services and solutions to government and commercial customers, with a strong focus on national security, defense, intelligence, and civil government markets. The company delivers systems integration, engineering, cybersecurity, software development, data analytics, cloud migration and managed IT services, as well as mission support for complex programs. Leidos’ work spans areas such as C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), secure communications, sensors and systems engineering, and health IT solutions for public-sector healthcare programs.

Leidos traces its corporate roots to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and emerged as an independent, publicly traded company following a corporate separation in 2013.