Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Stock Price Down 6.8% – Should You Sell?

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) fell 6.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $180.37 and last traded at $181.23. 816,881 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 6% from the average session volume of 864,877 shares. The stock had previously closed at $194.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on LDOS. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Leidos from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on Leidos from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Leidos from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Leidos from $165.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Leidos currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.23.

Leidos Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $169.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.16. The stock has a market cap of $22.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.68. 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 (NYSE:LDOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.97. The company had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company posted $2.03 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Leidos’s payout ratio is 17.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Leidos news, Director Surya N. Mohapatra sold 2,748 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.97, for a total transaction of $535,777.56. Following the transaction, the director now 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 at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Surya N. Mohapatra sold 2,748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,899,594.97. This represents a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.94, for a total value of $193,632.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,185,095.52. The trade was a 14.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leidos

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Leidos by 156.5% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,133,508 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $165,356,000 after acquiring an additional 691,575 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Leidos by 27.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,405,726 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $392,133,000 after acquiring an additional 522,764 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Leidos by 1,184.3% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 501,868 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $73,213,000 after acquiring an additional 462,792 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Leidos by 24,194.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,047 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $61,459,000 after acquiring an additional 375,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 303,775 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Leidos Company Profile

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.