Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $4.30 Million in Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Leonardo DRS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 133,220 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,304,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Leonardo DRS as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Leonardo DRS by 3.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Leonardo DRS by 183.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,457,612 shares of the company's stock worth $111,715,000 after acquiring an additional 2,236,661 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Leonardo DRS by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,301,964 shares of the company's stock worth $42,066,000 after acquiring an additional 62,395 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Leonardo DRS by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,088,369 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,165,000 after purchasing an additional 75,999 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Leonardo DRS by 87.7% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,067,630 shares of the company's stock worth $34,495,000 after purchasing an additional 498,979 shares in the last quarter. 18.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Leonardo DRS from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America upgraded Leonardo DRS from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Leonardo DRS from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Leonardo DRS currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $35.33.

Leonardo DRS Stock Performance

Shares of DRS stock opened at $37.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.15, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.73. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.88 and a 52 week high of $37.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.11.

Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ:DRS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. The company 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, sell-side analysts predict that Leonardo DRS, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Leonardo DRS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Leonardo DRS's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.57%.

Leonardo DRS declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO William Lynn III sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.25, for a total value of $1,586,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 189,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,695,279.25. The trade was a 19.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sally Wallace sold 8,353 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 $274,312.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,811,454.40. This trade represents a 13.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 144,360 shares of company stock valued at $4,849,137. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.