Headlands Technologies LLC Buys 4,260 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 115.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,958 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,260 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total transaction of $82,383.36. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,126,405 over the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NOC. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Northrop Grumman from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Eight investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $545.06.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC stock traded down $28.95 during trading on Friday, hitting $486.23. 1,692,381 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 860,929. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $479.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $492.44. 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 stock has a market cap of $70.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually 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 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is currently 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.