William Blair Issues Negative Estimate for Leidos Earnings

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) – Analysts at William Blair cut their Q4 2025 earnings estimates for Leidos in a research report issued on Tuesday, November 4th. William Blair analyst L. Dipalma now anticipates that the aerospace company will post earnings of $2.44 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.55. The consensus estimate for Leidos’ current full-year earnings is $10.62 per share.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on LDOS. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Leidos from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Leidos in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Leidos in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, 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. 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.23.

Leidos Stock Performance

NYSE:LDOS opened at $196.89 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $187.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market cap of $25.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.69. Leidos has a 1-year low of $123.62 and a 1-year high of $205.77.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.450-11.75 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leidos

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its position in Leidos by 34.5% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 12,299 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,660,000 after purchasing an additional 3,156 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors increased its position in Leidos by 5.9% in the first quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 4,729 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $638,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Leidos by 62.0% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 1,116 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 260.0% during the first quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 234 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, LBP AM SA boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 53.3% during the first quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 33,207 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,481,000 after acquiring an additional 11,542 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gregory R. Dahlberg sold 952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.43, for a total transaction of $168,913.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 21,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,738,095.24. This represents a 4.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen Edward Hull sold 12,497 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.14, for a total transaction of $2,226,215.58. Following the sale, the insider owned 25,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,599,040.38. This trade represents a 32.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over 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.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Leidos’s payout ratio is presently 15.12%.

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.