Federated Hermes Inc. Raises Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 519.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,241 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,943 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $6,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Sapient Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 2,049 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,006 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 900 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $933,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 432 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Northrop Grumman from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Northrop Grumman from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $543.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 directly owns 212,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total transaction of $213,788.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 245 shares in the company, valued at $112,883.75. This trade represents a 65.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,182 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC traded down $6.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $529.43. 926,739 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 868,412. The stock has a market cap of $76.31 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. The business's fifty day moving average is $483.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $491.50. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. As a group, analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio 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.