Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Lowered to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on LDOS. William Blair lowered Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. TD Cowen lowered Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $200.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.87.

Leidos Trading Up 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE LDOS opened at $139.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.10, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $141.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.70. Leidos has a 52-week low of $123.22 and a 52-week high of $202.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

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

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $203,320.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,260.48. This represents a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total value of $279,278.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,287.36. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leidos

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. IronOak Wealth LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 4th quarter valued at $883,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos in the fourth quarter valued at $11,135,000. REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 422.2% in the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos in the fourth quarter valued at $3,449,000. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos in the fourth quarter valued at $525,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

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.