Weiss Ratings Reaffirms Buy (B-) Rating for Leidos (NYSE:LDOS)

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS)‘s stock had its “buy (b-)” rating reissued by analysts at Weiss Ratings in a report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

LDOS has been the subject of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Leidos from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Truist Financial set a $195.00 price objective on Leidos in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $188.31.

Leidos Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:LDOS opened at $198.16 on Wednesday. Leidos has a 52-week low of $123.62 and a 52-week high of $202.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $181.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.58. Leidos had a return on equity of 33.57% and a net margin of 8.22%.The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.150-11.450 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Leidos will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Leidos news, insider Stephen Edward Hull sold 12,497 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.14, for a total value of $2,226,215.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 25,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,599,040.38. This trade represents a 32.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 952 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.43, for a total value of $168,913.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 21,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,738,095.24. The trade was a 4.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 22,975 shares of company stock valued at $4,078,740. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leidos

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 41.4% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,572 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,157,000 after acquiring an additional 2,508 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Leidos in the first quarter worth $264,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 2,940.8% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,159 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 2,088 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 14.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,729 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 263.7% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,706 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,849,000 after acquiring an additional 9,938 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.