Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Strong-Buy” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. William Blair cut Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Leidos presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.07.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of Leidos stock opened at $133.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $17.12 billion, a PE ratio of 14.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $135.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.05. Leidos has a fifty-two week low of $123.23 and a fifty-two week high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. Analysts expect that Leidos will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Leidos’s payout ratio is 17.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $203,320.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $862,260.48. This trade represents a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total value of $279,278.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leidos

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Leidos by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,450,395 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,225,784,000 after acquiring an additional 84,003 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Leidos by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,800,357 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $945,458,000 after purchasing an additional 56,066 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,504,392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $571,216,000 after purchasing an additional 405,256 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Leidos by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,393,313 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $487,649,000 after buying an additional 27,410 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Leidos by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,630,448 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $378,942,000 after buying an additional 682,532 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.