May Hill Capital LLC Acquires New Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

May Hill Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 514 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $241,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth about $1,056,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,567 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,940,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at approximately $341,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at approximately $559,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 245 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $112,883.75. The trade was a 65.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the company'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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $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

NOC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $544.00 target price for the company. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Northrop Grumman from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $545.06.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NOC stock traded down $28.95 during trading on Friday, hitting $486.23. 1,692,381 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 868,990. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $479.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $492.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.08%.

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.