Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong 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 $162.9333.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $125.00 target price (down from $200.00) on shares of Leidos in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Leidos in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Leidos from $210.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $165.00 target price on shares of Leidos in a report on Monday, August 17th.

Leidos Price Performance

NYSE:LDOS opened at $130.95 on Friday. Leidos has a 52 week low of $98.86 and a 52 week high of $205.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $127.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.87. The firm has a market cap of $16.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.56.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 7.80% and a return on equity of 30.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.21 EPS. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.200-12.500 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Leidos will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.04%.

Leidos announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, July 31st that permits the company to buyback 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Leidos news, Director Gary May sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total transaction of $140,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,204 shares in the company, valued at $1,437,233.40. The trade was a 8.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Noel Geer sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total value of $1,406,600.00. Following the sale, the director owned 34,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,820,980.84. The trade was a 22.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leidos

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Leidos by 16,475.4% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,156,784 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $646,463,000 after buying an additional 4,131,706 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Leidos by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,421,634 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $256,463,000 after acquiring an additional 22,013 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 25,505.4% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 42,505 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,668,000 after acquiring an additional 42,339 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Leidos during the 4th quarter valued at $318,839,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Leidos during the first quarter worth $20,225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Company Profile

Leidos Holdings, Inc (NYSE: LDOS) is a technology, engineering and services company that supports government and commercial customers in the defense, intelligence, civil and health markets. The company provides mission-critical solutions involving information technology, cybersecurity, data analytics, artificial intelligence, systems integration, engineering and scientific research.

Its defense and intelligence activities include command-and-control systems, mission software, surveillance and reconnaissance solutions, logistics, aircraft and weapons systems support, and national security services.