Mutual Advisors LLC Has $1.82 Million Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Mutual Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,784 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 169 shares during the quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NOC. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 48,367 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $22,698,000 after buying an additional 1,786 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $112,222,000 after buying an additional 5,334 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,938,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviso Wealth Management grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 110.7% in the 2nd quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,896 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $827,000 after buying an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on NOC. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.94.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $497.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $72.43 billion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $478.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $495.39.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The firm had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.18 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.96 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.