Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Leidos currently carries a consensus broker rating of "Hold", based on coverage from 14 analysts. The average 12-month price target is about $177.92, though individual targets have recently been cut by several firms.
• The company reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings of $3.13 per share versus the $2.88 estimate and revenue of $4.40 billion versus the $4.28 billion forecast. Leidos also raised its FY2026 guidance to 12.10–12.50 EPS.
• Leidos announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 1.7%. The stock also saw recent insider selling and increased institutional ownership, with hedge funds and institutions holding 76.12% of shares.

Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $177.9167.

LDOS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Leidos from $205.00 to $193.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Leidos from $220.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Leidos from $215.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $125.00 price target (down from $200.00) on shares of Leidos in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Argus raised Leidos to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st.

Leidos Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of Leidos stock opened at $101.62 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.54. The company has a market cap of $12.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.50. Leidos has a fifty-two week low of $99.53 and a fifty-two week high of $205.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 8.15%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.97 EPS. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.100-12.500 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Leidos will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Leidos's dividend payout ratio is 15.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,484 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.75, for a total value of $197,001.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,137 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,686.75. This represents a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Elizabeth A. Porter sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.78, for a total transaction of $317,560.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 49,476 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,855,799.28. This trade represents a 3.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LDOS. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in Leidos by 46.5% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,073 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 86.3% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 14,250 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,248,000 after acquiring an additional 6,600 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 2.7% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 20.2% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 41,405 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $6,532,000 after acquiring an additional 6,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 222.3% during the second quarter. Natixis now owns 8,155 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 5,625 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company's stock.

About Leidos

Leidos is an American technology and engineering company that provides services and solutions to government and commercial customers, with a strong focus on national security, defense, intelligence, and civil government markets. The company delivers systems integration, engineering, cybersecurity, software development, data analytics, cloud migration and managed IT services, as well as mission support for complex programs. Leidos' work spans areas such as C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), secure communications, sensors and systems engineering, and health IT solutions for public-sector healthcare programs.

Leidos traces its corporate roots to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and emerged as an independent, publicly traded company following a corporate separation in 2013.

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