Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

LDOS has been the subject of several other reports. William Blair lowered Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Leidos has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.87.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LDOS opened at $139.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.66. Leidos has a twelve month low of $123.22 and a twelve month high of $202.90. The company has a market capitalization of $18.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Leidos will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LDOS. IronOak Wealth LLC. purchased a new stake in Leidos during the fourth quarter valued at about $883,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Leidos in the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,135,000. REAP Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Leidos by 422.2% in the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Leidos during the 4th quarter valued at $3,449,000. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos during the fourth quarter worth $525,000. Institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

About Leidos

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.