Royal Bank Of Canada Upgrades Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) to “Moderate Buy”

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) was upgraded by Royal Bank Of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Leidos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $163.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (up from $186.00) on shares of Leidos in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $178.00 price target on shares of Leidos and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.31.

Leidos Price Performance

LDOS stock opened at $178.71 on Thursday. Leidos has a one year low of $123.62 and a one year high of $202.90. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $170.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.62. The company has a market capitalization of $22.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.71.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The aerospace company reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 33.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.63 earnings per share. Leidos has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.150-11.450 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Leidos will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total value of $356,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,804,892.85. The trade was a 16.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen Edward Hull sold 12,497 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.14, for a total value of $2,226,215.58. Following the sale, the insider owned 25,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,599,040.38. This trade represents a 32.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,975 shares of company stock valued at $4,078,740. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos during the second quarter valued at $261,501,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 3,450.0% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 704,106 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $95,012,000 after buying an additional 684,272 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 64.4% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,529,261 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $241,256,000 after buying an additional 598,974 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Leidos by 29.8% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,336,222 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $315,250,000 after purchasing an additional 536,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Leidos by 130.3% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 711,437 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $96,001,000 after purchasing an additional 402,454 shares in the last quarter. 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.