Wall Street Zen Upgrades Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) to Buy

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Leidos from “hold” to “buy,” although the broader analyst view remains cautious with a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $163.80.
• Other analysts have recently been mixed on the stock, with several price target cuts from firms like Jefferies, Stifel, and Citigroup, while JPMorgan maintained an overweight rating.
• Leidos recently reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting $3.13 EPS versus $2.88 expected and $4.40 billion in revenue versus $4.28 billion expected, while also issuing FY2026 EPS guidance of 12.1 to 12.5.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

LDOS has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Leidos from $140.00 to $110.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Leidos from $210.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Citigroup reduced their price target on Leidos from $178.00 to $138.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $125.00 price objective on Leidos in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $163.80.

Leidos Stock Performance

NYSE:LDOS opened at $108.22 on Thursday. The company's 50-day moving average is $117.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.10. Leidos has a 1-year low of $98.86 and a 1-year high of $205.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.91, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.54.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 8.15%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.97 EPS. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.100-12.500 EPS. Analysts forecast that Leidos will post 12.3 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,484 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.75, for a total transaction of $197,001.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,137 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,686.75. This trade represents a 12.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leidos

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

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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