Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Position Boosted by Guggenheim Capital LLC

Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 107.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,150 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 10,452 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $9,456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,677,781 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $5,949,556,000 after purchasing an additional 56,807 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,164,700 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,954,452,000 after buying an additional 23,808 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,025,263 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,417,850,000 after acquiring an additional 21,903 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,807,223 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,317,402,000 after acquiring an additional 109,308 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,533,378 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,188,889,000 after buying an additional 107,108 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, 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 value of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $304,217.72. The trade was a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. This 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 worth $2,127,182 over the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada raised Northrop Grumman from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $548.88.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.5 %

NOC stock traded up $2.45 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $539.96. 1,102,225 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 865,399. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $488.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $491.81. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman 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.