Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Given "Buy" Rating at Truist Financial

Truist Financial reiterated their buy rating on shares of Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a $165.00 price target on the aerospace company's stock, up from their prior price target of $150.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on LDOS. Barclays raised Leidos from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Leidos from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Leidos from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut Leidos from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, TheStreet raised Leidos from a c rating to a b rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Leidos currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $141.17.

Leidos Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE LDOS traded up $1.99 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $142.21. The stock had a trading volume of 1,950,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 880,146. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $128.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.73. The firm has a market cap of $19.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 100.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.70. Leidos has a fifty-two week low of $76.58 and a fifty-two week high of $142.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The aerospace company reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.59. The company had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.82 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 22.92% and a net margin of 1.29%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Leidos will post 7.77 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Leidos's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 107.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David G. Fubini sold 7,874 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.89, for a total value of $1,007,005.86. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,696 shares in the company, valued at $1,879,471.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,745 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.49, for a total value of $341,725.05. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,352 shares in the company, valued at $1,413,210.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David G. Fubini sold 7,874 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.89, for a total value of $1,007,005.86. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,879,471.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Leidos

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos in the fourth quarter valued at about $18,976,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Leidos by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 245,665 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $26,591,000 after acquiring an additional 38,496 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Leidos by 7.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,143,664 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $105,400,000 after acquiring an additional 82,447 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Leidos by 134.9% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,114 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 8,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Leidos by 15.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 95,319 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $8,785,000 after acquiring an additional 12,839 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company's stock.

Leidos Company Profile

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.