Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $160.29 According to Brokerages

Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $156.14.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Leidos in a research report on Friday, September 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on Leidos from $124.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 price target on Leidos in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Leidos from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In other news, Director Gary May sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 10,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,437,233.40. The trade was a 8.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 stock was sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total transaction of $1,406,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 34,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,820,980.84. This trade represents a 22.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Leidos

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Leidos in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,024,436,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Leidos by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,277,845 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $646,430,000 after acquiring an additional 161,407 shares in the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Leidos by 16,475.4% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,156,784 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $646,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,131,706 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Leidos by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,859,616 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $289,193,000 after acquiring an additional 47,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Leidos by 998.6% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,097,724 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $170,718,000 after acquiring an additional 997,807 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Trading Down 0.2%

LDOS opened at $121.46 on Tuesday. Leidos has a fifty-two week low of $98.86 and a fifty-two week high of $205.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $131.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 7.80% and a return on equity of 30.81%. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Leidos will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, July 31st that permits the company to repurchase 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Leidos Company Profile

Leidos Holdings, Inc is a technology, engineering and services company that provides solutions to government and commercial customers. The company operates primarily in the defense, intelligence, civil and health markets, supporting customers with mission-critical systems, digital modernization, cybersecurity, data analytics and technical services.

Its offerings include defense and intelligence technologies, command-and-control systems, transportation and infrastructure solutions, health information technology, aviation and security services, and scientific and engineering support.