Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Price Target to $191.00

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $197.00 to $191.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on LDOS. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. William Blair lowered shares of Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen cut shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.87.

Leidos Trading Down 0.9 %

LDOS opened at $129.52 on Wednesday. Leidos has a fifty-two week low of $123.22 and a fifty-two week high of $202.90. The company has a market cap of $16.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.44.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Leidos will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s payout ratio is 17.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total value of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,287.36. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $203,320.16. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at $862,260.48. This represents a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Leidos during the 4th quarter valued at $3,449,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 4th quarter worth about $525,000. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,222 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Leidos in the 4th quarter valued at about $726,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. raised its holdings in Leidos by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 2,208 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by 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.