William Blair Downgrades Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) to Market Perform

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) was downgraded by equities research analysts at William Blair from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on LDOS. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Leidos from $165.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Leidos from $199.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.27.

Leidos Trading Down 2.6 %

Leidos stock opened at $126.66 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.65. The company has a market cap of $16.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.66. Leidos has a 52-week low of $123.22 and a 52-week high of $202.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.93% and a net margin of 7.53%. Analysts predict that Leidos will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total transaction of $279,278.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,287.36. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $203,320.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at $862,260.48. This trade represents a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Leidos

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Leidos by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. raised its holdings in Leidos by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. now owns 2,280 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Leidos by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Leidos by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 454 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Leidos by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,738 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.