Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $162.9333.

LDOS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Leidos from $210.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 price objective on Leidos in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Leidos in a research report on Friday, September 4th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on Leidos from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Leidos from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 5th.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of LDOS opened at $129.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $126.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.51. Leidos has a fifty-two week low of $98.86 and a fifty-two week high of $205.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.23 billion, a PE ratio of 12.06, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.56.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 7.80% and a return on equity of 30.81%. Leidos’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.21 earnings per share. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.200-12.500 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Leidos will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, July 31st that permits the company to buyback 20,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Leidos’s payout ratio is 16.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Leidos news, Director Gary May sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $140,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,204 shares in the company, valued at $1,437,233.40. This trade represents a 8.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Noel Geer sold 10,000 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total transaction of $1,406,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 34,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,820,980.84. This represents a 22.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Leidos in the second quarter worth about $1,024,436,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 16,475.4% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,156,784 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $646,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,131,706 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Leidos by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,538,488 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $636,097,000 after purchasing an additional 64,909 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Leidos by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,859,616 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $289,193,000 after purchasing an additional 47,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Leidos in the 4th quarter worth approximately $318,839,000. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Leidos Company Profile

Leidos Holdings, Inc (NYSE: LDOS) is a technology, engineering and services company that supports government and commercial customers in the defense, intelligence, civil and health markets. The company provides mission-critical solutions involving information technology, cybersecurity, data analytics, artificial intelligence, systems integration, engineering and scientific research.

Its defense and intelligence activities include command-and-control systems, mission software, surveillance and reconnaissance solutions, logistics, aircraft and weapons systems support, and national security services.