Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on LDOS. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Leidos in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Leidos from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Leidos in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research downgraded Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Leidos from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.23.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of LDOS opened at $196.89 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $187.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.49. 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 has a twelve month low of $123.62 and a twelve month high of $205.77. The company has a market cap of $25.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.69.

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

Leidos Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Leidos’s payout ratio is presently 14.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 sale, the director owned 10,137 shares in the company, valued at $1,804,892.85. This represents a 16.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the director directly owned 21,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,738,095.24. This trade represents a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,449 shares of company stock valued at $2,751,229. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leidos

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kendall Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 93.7% in the second quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 4,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Leidos by 145.6% in the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 7,998 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after purchasing an additional 4,742 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC acquired a new stake in Leidos during the 2nd quarter worth $286,000. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 19.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 88,927 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $12,404,000 after buying an additional 14,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Leidos by 26.2% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 10,229 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after buying an additional 2,126 shares during the last quarter. 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.