Bank of America Boosts Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Price Target to $145.00

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) had its target price upped by Bank of America from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays upgraded Leidos from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Leidos from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Leidos from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Leidos has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $129.91.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LDOS opened at $131.09 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $121.74 and its 200 day moving average is $108.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $17.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.70. Leidos has a fifty-two week low of $76.58 and a fifty-two week high of $131.50.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The aerospace company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 1.29% and a return on equity of 22.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Leidos will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 107.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,745 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.49, for a total transaction of $341,725.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,352 shares in the company, valued at $1,413,210.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,745 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.49, for a total transaction of $341,725.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,352 shares in the company, valued at $1,413,210.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David G. Fubini sold 7,874 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.89, for a total value of $1,007,005.86. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,879,471.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Leidos

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LDOS. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Leidos by 17.0% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,563,014 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,553,976,000 after buying an additional 2,552,908 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Leidos during the fourth quarter valued at $202,191,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Leidos by 320.1% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,246,768 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $114,902,000 after buying an additional 949,955 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Leidos by 9,164.4% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 578,561 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $62,623,000 after buying an additional 572,316 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in Leidos by 36.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,808,666 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $166,687,000 after buying an additional 479,906 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.