Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) in a report released on Tuesday. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $178.00 price target on the aerospace company's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price objective suggests a potential upside of 18.04% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on LDOS. UBS Group upped their price objective on Leidos from $149.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Leidos from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Robert W. Baird downgraded Leidos from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $163.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Leidos to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $177.46.

Leidos Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:LDOS opened at $150.79 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.98. Leidos has a 12-month low of $123.62 and a 12-month high of $202.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.63.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 32.62%. Leidos's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Leidos will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In related news, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 1,250 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.55, for a total transaction of $193,187.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,121,137.25. The trade was a 5.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Leidos

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LDOS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,450,395 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,225,784,000 after buying an additional 84,003 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Leidos by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,416,817 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $461,065,000 after acquiring an additional 251,245 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Leidos by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,393,313 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $487,649,000 after purchasing an additional 27,410 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted 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 valued at $378,942,000 after purchasing an additional 682,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 29.8% in 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.

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