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

Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $188.3077.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LDOS shares. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Truist Financial set a $195.00 price target on shares of Leidos in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target (up from $186.00) on shares of Leidos in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $178.00 target price on shares of Leidos and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th.

Leidos Price Performance

LDOS opened at $192.93 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.75 billion, a PE ratio of 18.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.62. Leidos has a 1 year low of $123.62 and a 1 year high of $202.90. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $178.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.39.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.24 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 33.57%. Leidos’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.63 earnings per share. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.150-11.450 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Leidos will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Leidos’s payout ratio is presently 15.12%.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other news, insider Stephen Edward Hull sold 12,497 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.14, for a total transaction of $2,226,215.58. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,599,040.38. The trade was a 32.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,738,095.24. The trade was a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,975 shares of company stock valued at $4,078,740. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Leidos

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Leidos in the first quarter worth $27,000. First Pacific Financial bought a new stake in shares of Leidos in the second quarter worth $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Leidos in the second quarter worth $29,000. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its stake in shares of Leidos by 260.0% in the first quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 234 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Leidos by 471.4% in the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 200 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

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.