Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $23.11 Million in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 49,215 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $23,108,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 291.7% during the 4th 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research raised Northrop Grumman from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research note on Friday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $543.65.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the 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 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 worth $2,127,182 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NOC traded up $15.29 on Friday, reaching $531.38. The stock had a trading volume of 290,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 865,389. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $480.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $491.62.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Sell-side analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $2.06 dividend. 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 1.55%. Northrop Grumman's dividend 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.