Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $213.0909.

Several analysts have commented on LDOS shares. UBS Group set a $204.00 price objective on shares of Leidos in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on Leidos from $218.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Leidos in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Leidos in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Leidos in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th.

Leidos Trading Up 0.7%

Leidos stock traded up $1.25 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $189.69. The stock had a trading volume of 48,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 882,693. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $188.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.29. Leidos has a 52 week low of $123.62 and a 52 week high of $205.77. The stock has a market cap of $24.25 billion, a PE ratio of 17.71, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $4.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 33.02% and a net margin of 8.11%. Analysts forecast that Leidos will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In related news, insider Elizabeth A. Porter sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.21, for a total value of $576,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,575 shares in the company, valued at $7,414,500.75. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leidos

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Pacific Financial purchased a new position in shares of Leidos in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Leidos by 77.6% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 151 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Leidos during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Leidos during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 110.5% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

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.