Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $160.29

Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five 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 covered the stock in the last year is $156.14.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on LDOS shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Leidos in a report on Friday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $165.00 price objective on Leidos in a research note on Monday, August 17th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Leidos from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on Leidos from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Leidos from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th.

Leidos Price Performance

LDOS opened at $119.17 on Tuesday. Leidos has a 1 year low of $98.86 and a 1 year high of $205.77. The company has a market capitalization of $14.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $131.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The aerospace company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 7.80% and a return on equity of 30.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.21 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Leidos will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, July 31st that allows the company to repurchase 20,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.04%.

Insider Activity

In other Leidos news, Director Noel B. Geer sold 10,000 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gary May sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $140,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,437,233.40. The trade was a 8.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LDOS. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Leidos during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Leidos in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Leidos by 6,366.7% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 194 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Leidos during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Leidos during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

About Leidos

Leidos Holdings, Inc is a technology, engineering and services company that provides solutions to government and commercial customers. The company operates primarily in the defense, intelligence, civil and health markets, supporting customers with mission-critical systems, digital modernization, cybersecurity, data analytics and technical services.

Its offerings include defense and intelligence technologies, command-and-control systems, transportation and infrastructure solutions, health information technology, aviation and security services, and scientific and engineering support.