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

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $172.0833.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $125.00 target price (down from $200.00) on shares of Leidos in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $125.00 price target on Leidos in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Leidos in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $140.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In related news, insider Elizabeth A. Porter sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.78, for a total value of $317,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 49,476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,855,799.28. The trade was a 3.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,484 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.75, for a total value of $197,001.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,345,686.75. This represents a 12.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leidos

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Leidos by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,171 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Leidos by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Leidos by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 492 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Leidos by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 517 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Leidos by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 1,337 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Leidos Price Performance

LDOS opened at $108.58 on Friday. Leidos has a 52-week low of $98.86 and a 52-week high of $205.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $122.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $157.63. The company has a market cap of $13.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.97 EPS. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.100-12.500 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Leidos will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 15.75%.

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.