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

Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $132.42.

Several research analysts have recently commented on LDOS shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on Leidos from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. TheStreet upgraded Leidos from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Leidos from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays upgraded Leidos from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th.

Leidos Stock Up 0.8 %

LDOS opened at $129.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $17.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.47, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.70. Leidos has a 52 week low of $76.58 and a 52 week high of $131.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.44.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The aerospace company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 22.92% and a net margin of 1.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Leidos will post 7.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is presently 107.04%.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other news, Director David G. Fubini sold 7,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.89, for a total transaction of $1,007,005.86. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,879,471.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,745 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.49, for a total transaction of $341,725.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,352 shares in the company, valued at $1,413,210.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David G. Fubini sold 7,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.89, for a total value of $1,007,005.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,879,471.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Leidos in the first quarter valued at about $222,000. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Leidos in the first quarter valued at about $224,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Leidos by 7.4% in the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 141,728 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $18,579,000 after purchasing an additional 9,812 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Leidos by 31.1% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,336 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,273,000 after purchasing an additional 4,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. purchased a new position in Leidos in the first quarter valued at about $25,681,000. Hedge funds and other 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.