Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Leidos from $165.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Leidos from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Leidos from $180.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Leidos from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.27.

Leidos Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE:LDOS opened at $126.66 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $16.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.66. Leidos has a 52 week low of $123.22 and a 52 week high of $202.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $144.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.65.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. On average, equities analysts expect that Leidos will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is 17.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $203,320.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,260.48. The trade was a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LDOS. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 1,460.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 156 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.