Oak Thistle LLC Purchases Shares of 763 Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 763 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $358,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth $31,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC traded up $1.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $482.49. 1,091,510 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 775,655. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $481.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $493.38. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $70.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The business's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.18 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Northrop Grumman from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $544.00 price target on the stock. 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $550.94.

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.