Norges Bank Takes $24.92 Million Position in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 771,267 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,920,000. Norges Bank owned 0.29% of Leonardo DRS at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DRS. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new stake in shares of Leonardo DRS in the fourth quarter valued at about $529,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Leonardo DRS by 261.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 621,506 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,081,000 after acquiring an additional 449,642 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Leonardo DRS by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,934,919 shares of the company's stock worth $256,377,000 after acquiring an additional 263,002 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Leonardo DRS by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 85,423 shares of the company's stock worth $2,760,000 after acquiring an additional 7,956 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 63,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,044,000 after purchasing an additional 16,608 shares during the last quarter. 18.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Leonardo DRS Price Performance

Leonardo DRS stock traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $35.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,106,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 659,281. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.31 billion, a PE ratio of 44.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.73. Leonardo DRS, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.88 and a fifty-two week high of $37.99. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $32.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.11.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. Leonardo DRS had a net margin of 6.59% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The firm had revenue of $981.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $942.18 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Leonardo DRS declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback $75.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Leonardo DRS Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Leonardo DRS's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.57%.

Insider Activity at Leonardo DRS

In other news, SVP Pamela Morrow sold 8,854 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total value of $290,765.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 17,335 shares in the company, valued at $569,281.40. This trade represents a 33.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO William Lynn III sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.25, for a total transaction of $1,586,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 189,937 shares in the company, valued at $6,695,279.25. This represents a 19.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 144,360 shares of company stock valued at $4,849,137 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DRS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Leonardo DRS from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Leonardo DRS from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.83.

Leonardo DRS Profile

Leonardo DRS, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides defense electronic products and systems, and military support services. It operates through Advanced Sensing and Computing (ASC) segment, and Integrated Mission Systems (IMS) segments. The ASC segment designs, develops, and manufacture sensing and network computing technology that enables real-time situational awareness required for enhanced operational decision making and execution; and offers sensing capabilities span applications, such as missions requiring advanced detection, precision targeting and surveillance sensing, long range electro-optic/infrared, signals intelligence, and other intelligence systems including electronic warfare, ground vehicle sensing, active electronically scanned array tactical radars, dismounted soldier, and space sensing.