Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Sets New 52-Week High at $160.82

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $160.82 and last traded at $159.99, with a volume of 21974 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $159.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LDOS shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Leidos from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Leidos from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Leidos from $155.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.08.

Leidos Trading Up 1.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $21.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.84, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $152.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The aerospace company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.36. Leidos had a return on equity of 28.40% and a net margin of 2.72%. The business had revenue of $4.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 8.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.52%.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In related news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,059 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $153,798.57. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,455 shares in the company, valued at $1,082,689.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Thomas Arthur Bell purchased 1,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $145.04 per share, for a total transaction of $248,308.48. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,248,605.92. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,059 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $153,798.57. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,455 shares in the company, valued at $1,082,689.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Leidos

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Leidos by 5.8% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,430,264 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $449,592,000 after acquiring an additional 188,458 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Leidos by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,149,948 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $124,470,000 after buying an additional 6,284 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Leidos by 156.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,133,508 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $165,356,000 after buying an additional 691,575 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Leidos by 39.7% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 782,161 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $114,102,000 after buying an additional 222,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Leidos by 76.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 698,807 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $101,942,000 after buying an additional 303,775 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.