Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair

William Blair cut shares of Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on LDOS. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Leidos from $165.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen cut shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $200.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Leidos in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $185.00 price target for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Leidos has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.27.

Leidos Stock Performance

NYSE:LDOS opened at $126.66 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $144.36 and its 200-day moving average is $156.84. Leidos has a 52-week low of $123.22 and a 52-week high of $202.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $16.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.66.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Leidos will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s payout ratio is presently 17.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total value of $279,278.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,287.36. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $203,320.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,260.48. This represents a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leidos

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LDOS. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 1,460.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 156 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.