AGF Management Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 165,921 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 5,494 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. owned 0.11% of Northrop Grumman worth $77,865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% during the third quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,208,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.3% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 8,320 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $4,394,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 2,049 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $962,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the fourth 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. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several analysts have recently weighed in on NOC shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $544.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna decreased 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 note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $542.88.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on NOC
Northrop Grumman Price Performance
NOC opened at $495.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $470.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $494.93. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57.
Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last announced its 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%. Equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.
Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is 29.08%.
Northrop Grumman announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the company's 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares of the company's stock, valued at $304,217.72. This represents a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73 % 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 $2,126,405 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
About Northrop Grumman
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Free Report)
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.
See Also
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