Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) Shares Down 7.5% – What’s Next?

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)’s share price fell 7.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $165.00 and last traded at $163.0130. 1,192,800 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 24% from the average session volume of 960,523 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.30.

Trending Headlines about Leidos

Here are the key news stories impacting Leidos this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 profit beat: non‑GAAP EPS of $2.76 topped expectations, showing margin improvement and driving better-than-year-ago earnings. Leidos (LDOS) Surpasses Q4 Earnings Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Raised FY‑2026 guidance: management set EPS guidance of 12.050–12.450 and revenue guidance of $17.5–17.9B, both above consensus — a forward-looking signal that management expects recovery and growth. Leidos Posts Strong Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic M&A: Leidos agreed to acquire Entrust for about $2.4B to expand its energy business and support the NorthStar 2030 growth plan — a value‑creating growth move if integration goes smoothly. Defense Giant Leidos Delivers Record Cash Flow, Secures $2.4B Acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Strong cash flow and bookings: record annual cash from operations and a Q4 book‑to‑bill of ~1.3 suggest healthy backlog and execution. Leidos Posts Strong Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend declared: quarterly payout of $0.43 (announced) provides modest income support but is not a major catalyst. Leidos Reports Strong 2025 Results and Dividend Declaration
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue miss and shutdown impact: Q4 revenue of ~$4.21B fell short of estimates and was down year‑over‑year; management cited the six‑week U.S. government shutdown as a primary reason for weaker orders and revenue timing. Leidos misses quarterly revenue estimates on government shutdown impact
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: despite the positives, investors sold on the revenue miss and near‑term uncertainty (shutdown effects and M&A execution risk), driving a notable intraday decline and above‑average volume. Leidos Stock Slides As Government Shutdown, Weak Outlook Overshadow Record Profits

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Leidos in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research downgraded Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Leidos from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Leidos in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Leidos in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $213.09.

Leidos Stock Down 8.0%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $187.52 and a 200-day moving average of $186.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $20.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.59.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The aerospace company reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.19. Leidos had a return on equity of 33.02% and a net margin of 8.11%.The business had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.37 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Leidos has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.050-12.450 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Elizabeth A. Porter sold 3,000 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.21, for a total transaction of $576,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,414,500.75. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Leidos

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Leidos by 77.6% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 151 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Leidos by 94.7% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 148 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Leidos in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Leidos during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in Leidos by 110.5% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Company Profile

Leidos is an American technology and engineering company that provides services and solutions to government and commercial customers, with a strong focus on national security, defense, intelligence, and civil government markets. The company delivers systems integration, engineering, cybersecurity, software development, data analytics, cloud migration and managed IT services, as well as mission support for complex programs. Leidos’ work spans areas such as C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), secure communications, sensors and systems engineering, and health IT solutions for public-sector healthcare programs.

Leidos traces its corporate roots to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and emerged as an independent, publicly traded company following a corporate separation in 2013.