Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Sells 759 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,077 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 759 shares during the quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total transaction of $213,788.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,883.75. This represents a 65.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,126,405 in the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on NOC. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Argus upgraded Northrop Grumman to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $542.88.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.4 %

Northrop Grumman stock traded down $6.84 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $488.61. The stock had a trading volume of 501,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 815,036. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $70.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $470.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $494.93.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Equities analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.08%.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The company's Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic ISR systems and vertical take-off and landing tactical ISR systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems.