Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Cut to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on LDOS. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. William Blair downgraded shares of Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.87.

Leidos Trading Up 4.8 %

NYSE LDOS opened at $139.49 on Friday. Leidos has a 1-year low of $123.22 and a 1-year high of $202.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $18.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.70.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Leidos will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $862,260.48. This trade represents a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total transaction of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. The trade was 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 company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leidos

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LDOS. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Leidos by 1,460.0% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 156 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Leidos in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Leidos in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Leidos by 422.2% during the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Leidos during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors 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.