Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Raised to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Leidos in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Leidos in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Argus lifted their price target on Leidos from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Leidos from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.23.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LDOS opened at $188.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.58, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.62. Leidos has a fifty-two week low of $123.62 and a fifty-two week high of $205.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $190.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.14.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Stephen Edward Hull sold 12,497 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.14, for a total value of $2,226,215.58. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 25,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,599,040.38. The trade was a 32.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Leidos

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Leidos by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,805,218 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,096,954,000 after buying an additional 78,534 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 3.3% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,528,630 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $556,677,000 after acquiring an additional 111,813 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 3.7% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,909,142 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $460,203,000 after acquiring an additional 103,321 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Leidos by 6.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,411,312 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $455,642,000 after purchasing an additional 145,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Leidos by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,221,518 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $419,778,000 after purchasing an additional 39,378 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.