Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Cut to Neutral at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird cut shares of Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Robert W. Baird currently has $163.00 target price on the aerospace company's stock.

LDOS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Leidos from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Leidos to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. William Blair downgraded shares of Leidos from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Leidos from $149.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Leidos from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Leidos presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $176.46.

Leidos Price Performance

LDOS stock traded down $1.87 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $147.49. The stock had a trading volume of 1,818,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,237,264. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Leidos has a 52 week low of $123.62 and a 52 week high of $202.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.03.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.50. Leidos had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Leidos will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Leidos's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.10%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 1,250 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.55, for a total value of $193,187.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,195 shares in the company, valued at $3,121,137.25. The trade was a 5.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Leidos

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LDOS. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Leidos in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Leidos during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. REAP Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Leidos by 422.2% during the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Leidos during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Optimum Investment Advisors increased its stake in Leidos by 260.0% during the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 234 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.12% of the company's stock.

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.