Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Receives $182.00 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $182.00.

LDOS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Leidos in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $182.00 price objective on the stock. 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 report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Leidos from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In related news, Director Surya N. Mohapatra sold 2,748 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.97, for a total value of $535,777.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,899,594.97. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Noel B. Geer acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $161.13 per share, for a total transaction of $322,260.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $322,260. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leidos

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LDOS. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Leidos by 156.5% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,133,508 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $165,356,000 after acquiring an additional 691,575 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Leidos by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,405,726 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $392,133,000 after purchasing an additional 522,764 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,504,392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $571,216,000 after purchasing an additional 405,256 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Leidos by 24,194.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,047 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $61,459,000 after buying an additional 375,495 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Leidos by 76.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 698,807 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $101,942,000 after buying an additional 303,775 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Leidos Stock Performance

Shares of LDOS opened at $144.49 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Leidos has a one year low of $106.38 and a one year high of $202.90. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $166.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $157.80. The company has a market capitalization of $19.28 billion, a PE ratio of 16.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.64.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.97. The business had revenue of $4.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.06 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.31% and a net margin of 7.37%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Leidos will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.22%.

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.