Fmr LLC Raises Stock Position in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS)

FMR LLC raised its stake in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS - Free Report) by 183.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,457,612 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,236,661 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned about 1.31% of Leonardo DRS worth $111,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Leonardo DRS by 148.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 178,331 shares of the company's stock worth $5,032,000 after acquiring an additional 106,565 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,915,376 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,061,000 after purchasing an additional 51,014 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Leonardo DRS by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,239,569 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,371,000 after purchasing an additional 176,326 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Leonardo DRS by 133.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 171,864 shares of the company's stock worth $4,850,000 after buying an additional 98,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC increased its position in Leonardo DRS by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 89,612 shares of the company's stock worth $2,895,000 after buying an additional 4,368 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 18.76% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO William Lynn III sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.25, for a total value of $1,586,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 189,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,695,279.25. The trade was a 19.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO John Baylouny sold 3,529 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.96, for a total transaction of $112,786.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 137,283 shares in the company, valued at $4,387,564.68. This represents a 2.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 144,360 shares of company stock worth $4,849,137. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Leonardo DRS Stock Performance

NASDAQ DRS traded up $0.55 on Friday, hitting $36.46. 1,150,904 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 665,198. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $32.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.89. The firm has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.15, 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.

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

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

Leonardo DRS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Leonardo DRS's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Leonardo DRS from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Leonardo DRS from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $35.33.

About Leonardo DRS

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.