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

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $146.08.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Leidos from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Leidos from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Leidos from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Leidos news, insider Roy E. Stevens sold 875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.67, for a total value of $131,836.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 44,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,651,929.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Leidos

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Leidos in the 4th quarter worth about $202,191,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 9,164.4% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 578,561 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $62,623,000 after buying an additional 572,316 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 138.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 517,498 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $67,840,000 after buying an additional 300,486 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,660,386 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $429,501,000 after buying an additional 272,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 276.5% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 304,489 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $39,915,000 after buying an additional 223,613 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:LDOS opened at $145.05 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Leidos has a 12 month low of $87.73 and a 12 month high of $151.32. The company has a market cap of $19.61 billion, a PE ratio of 62.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.62.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The aerospace company reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.59. Leidos had a net margin of 2.04% and a return on equity of 25.66%. The business had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Leidos will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 65.52%.

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.