Holderness Investments Co. Sells 123 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Holderness Investments Co. cut its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 123 shares during the quarter. Holderness Investments Co.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 11.0% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 18,562 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $9,802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,844 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.5% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,747 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,035,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 24.6% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 6,980 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,686,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 7.6% during the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,229 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $649,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 9.2% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 100,430 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,034,000 after purchasing an additional 8,502 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on NOC shares. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Argus raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price objective on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.88.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NOC stock opened at $488.98 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $474.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $493.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.08%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total transaction of $213,788.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,883.75. The trade was a 65.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,126,405 in the last quarter. 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.