Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Leidos Holdings, Inc. has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from fifteen research firms, with a consensus target price of $179.46.
• The company reported $3.21 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and indicated a forecast of 11.150-11.450 EPS for FY 2025.
• Leidos announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, which will be paid on September 30th, representing a 0.9% yield.

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $183.3077.

LDOS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Leidos from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $163.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $210.00 target price on shares of Leidos and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Leidos from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 952 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.43, for a total value of $168,913.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 21,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,738,095.24. This represents a 4.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $356,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,137 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,804,892.85. The trade was a 16.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,478 shares of company stock worth $1,852,525. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Leidos

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LDOS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $261,501,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 3,450.0% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 704,106 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $95,012,000 after buying an additional 684,272 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 64.4% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,529,261 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $241,256,000 after buying an additional 598,974 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 29.8% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,336,222 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $315,250,000 after buying an additional 536,452 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 130.3% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 711,437 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $96,001,000 after buying an additional 402,454 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company's stock.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of Leidos stock traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $177.49. The stock had a trading volume of 466,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,321,042. The stock's 50 day moving average is $169.26 and its 200 day moving average is $151.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.78, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.71. Leidos has a twelve month low of $123.62 and a twelve month high of $202.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

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

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Leidos's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.12%.

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.