Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $187.77.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on LDOS shares. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Leidos from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised their price target on Leidos from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Leidos from $165.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Leidos from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Leidos from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Leidos news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.94, for a total value of $193,632.18. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,185,095.52. This represents a 14.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Surya N. Mohapatra sold 2,748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.97, for a total value of $535,777.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,899,594.97. This represents a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Leidos by 156.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,133,508 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $165,356,000 after purchasing an additional 691,575 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Leidos by 27.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,405,726 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $392,133,000 after buying an additional 522,764 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in Leidos by 1,184.3% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 501,868 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $73,213,000 after acquiring an additional 462,792 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Leidos by 24,194.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,047 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $61,459,000 after acquiring an additional 375,495 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Leidos by 76.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 698,807 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $101,942,000 after acquiring an additional 303,775 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Leidos Stock Performance

Shares of Leidos stock opened at $165.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $171.29 and a 200 day moving average of $156.80. Leidos has a 12 month low of $105.52 and a 12 month high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.97. Leidos had a net margin of 7.37% and a return on equity of 30.31%. The company had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Leidos will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.22%.

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.