Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Stock Has Average Price Target of $150.85 According to Brokerages

Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $150.85.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LDOS shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Leidos from $161.00 to $141.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Leidos from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Leidos from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Leidos from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Leidos from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd.

Leidos Stock Up 1.0%

LDOS opened at $144.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.44, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.58. Leidos has a 52 week low of $98.86 and a 52 week high of $205.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.34.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.35. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.81% and a net margin of 7.80%. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.21 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Leidos will post 12.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Leidos declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, July 31st that allows the company to repurchase 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Noel B. Geer sold 10,000 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total transaction of $1,406,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 34,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,820,980.84. The trade was a 22.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gary May sold 1,000 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $140,850.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,437,233.40. The trade was a 8.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leidos

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Heritage Family Offices LLP acquired a new position in Leidos in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,128 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $747,000 after acquiring an additional 866 shares during the period. Financial Council LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $595,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Leidos by 145.0% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,683 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Leidos

Leidos Holdings, Inc (NYSE: LDOS) is a technology, engineering and science company that provides services and solutions to government and commercial customers. Its work supports defense, intelligence, civil government, health and transportation missions, with offerings that include information technology modernization, systems integration, cybersecurity, data analytics, artificial intelligence, engineering and mission operations.

The company also provides health technology and scientific services, transportation management systems, aviation and security solutions, and support for complex government programs.