Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Acquired by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 63,371 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 1,451 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $29,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth about $1,005,000. HMV Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth about $304,000. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 4,719 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,215,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,185,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the period. Finally, Renasant Bank lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 729 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on NOC. Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup raised 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. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price objective for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $542.88.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NOC opened at $490.88 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $472.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $494.03. 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 $71.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,217.72. The trade was a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,126,405. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.