Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Leidos was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a buy to a hold, adding to a mixed analyst picture that still leaves the stock with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a $193.64 average price target.
• The company’s latest quarter beat expectations, posting EPS of $3.13 versus $2.88 expected and revenue of $4.40 billion versus $4.28 billion expected, with revenue up 3.7% year over year.
• Shares have weakened sharply, opening at $123.52 and sitting near the low end of their 52-week range, while recent insider sales and a lower target range from several analysts have added caution around the stock.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $185.00 target price on shares of Leidos in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Argus upgraded shares of Leidos to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Leidos from $215.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Leidos from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Leidos from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Leidos has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $193.64.

Leidos Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE LDOS opened at $123.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Leidos has a 52 week low of $121.53 and a 52 week high of $205.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $154.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.56.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.28 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.97 earnings per share. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.100-12.500 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Leidos will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leidos

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Leidos by 94.7% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 148 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Leidos by 77.6% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 151 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Leidos in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Leidos by 110.5% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longview Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Leidos in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company's stock.

Leidos Company Profile

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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