Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Upgraded at TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

LDOS has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Leidos from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group started coverage on Leidos in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $182.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Leidos from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Leidos from $180.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.00.

Leidos Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of LDOS opened at $144.81 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.23. Leidos has a 52 week low of $105.52 and a 52 week high of $202.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $169.00 and a 200-day moving average of $157.69.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.97. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.31% and a net margin of 7.37%. The firm had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Leidos will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Leidos’s payout ratio is 18.22%.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other news, Director Surya N. Mohapatra sold 2,748 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 20,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,899,594.97. This represents a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,047 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.94, for a total transaction of $193,632.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,185,095.52. The trade was a 14.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leidos

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Leidos by 156.5% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,133,508 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $165,356,000 after purchasing an additional 691,575 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 522,764 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Leidos by 24,194.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,047 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $61,459,000 after buying an additional 375,495 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Leidos by 76.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 698,807 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $101,942,000 after acquiring an additional 303,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Leidos by 51.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 837,370 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $136,491,000 after acquiring an additional 283,558 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.