Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Receives $179.23 Average Price Target from Analysts

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $179.23.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen lowered Leidos from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. William Blair lowered Leidos from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Leidos to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total transaction of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,287.36. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $203,320.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,260.48. The trade was a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leidos

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LDOS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $266,419,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Leidos by 510.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 999,661 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $144,011,000 after purchasing an additional 835,930 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Leidos by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,630,448 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $378,942,000 after purchasing an additional 682,532 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Leidos by 29.8% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,336,222 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $315,250,000 after purchasing an additional 536,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Leidos by 13.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,504,392 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $571,216,000 after purchasing an additional 405,256 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company's stock.

Leidos Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE LDOS traded up $2.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $148.78. 775,125 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,581,685. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.66. Leidos has a 52-week low of $123.62 and a 52-week high of $202.90. The company's 50-day moving average is $137.45 and its 200-day moving average is $150.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.93% and a net margin of 7.53%. Analysts expect that Leidos will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Leidos's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

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.