Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 1,100,852 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 25% from the previous session’s volume of 882,294 shares.The stock last traded at $160.63 and had previously closed at $167.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LDOS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Leidos from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Leidos from $183.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Leidos from $205.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Leidos from $180.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.23.

Leidos Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $21.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $169.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.25.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.97. The company had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.06 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 7.37% and a return on equity of 30.31%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Surya N. Mohapatra sold 2,748 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.97, for a total transaction of $535,777.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,899,594.97. This trade represents a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.94, for a total value of $193,632.18. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,185,095.52. This trade represents a 14.04 % 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 Trading of Leidos

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LDOS. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Leidos by 3.5% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 1,141 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Leidos by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,671 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Somerset Trust Co lifted its holdings in Leidos by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 2,429 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Leidos Company Profile

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.