Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Raises Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 28.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,030,644 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 450,858 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 1.40% of Northrop Grumman worth $952,962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 291.7% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 94 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 value of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 709 shares of the company's stock, valued at $304,217.72. The trade was a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,127,182. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $542.94.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NYSE:NOC traded up $10.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $473.38. 1,329,267 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 885,333. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The stock has a market cap of $68.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. The firm's 50-day moving average is $491.64 and its 200-day moving average is $489.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is 32.52%.

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.