Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Given New $235.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) had its price target upped by Bank of America from $200.00 to $235.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Leidos in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Leidos in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Leidos in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.23.

Leidos Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of LDOS traded up $2.13 on Friday, hitting $196.89. 605,651 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 795,328. Leidos has a 1 year low of $123.62 and a 1 year high of $205.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $187.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.44. Leidos had a return on equity of 33.02% and a net margin of 8.11%.The company had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.450-11.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Leidos will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Leidos’s payout ratio is 16.04%.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.43, for a total value of $168,913.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 21,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,738,095.24. This trade represents a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total value of $356,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,804,892.85. The trade was a 16.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,449 shares of company stock worth $2,751,229. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Leidos by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,528,630 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $556,677,000 after purchasing an additional 111,813 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,909,142 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $460,203,000 after buying an additional 103,321 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Leidos by 29.8% during 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 buying an additional 536,452 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Leidos by 10.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,877,020 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $253,262,000 after buying an additional 170,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Leidos in the second quarter valued at $261,501,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.