Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Acquired by Fmr LLC

FMR LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,807,223 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 109,308 shares during the quarter. FMR LLC owned about 1.94% of Northrop Grumman worth $1,317,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 519.7% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 14,241 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $6,683,000 after acquiring an additional 11,943 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 233,882 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $109,758,000 after purchasing an additional 9,558 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 3,633 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,705,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 201,480 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $94,552,000 after purchasing an additional 13,423 shares during the period. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,371,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company's stock.

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Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC stock traded up $18.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $534.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,178,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 869,500. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company's 50 day moving average is $481.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $491.66. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The stock has a market cap of $76.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is 29.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $543.65.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total transaction of $82,383.36. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 709 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This represents a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,182. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

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.