Pachira Investments Inc. Buys 144 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Pachira Investments Inc. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,140 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Pachira Investments Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 16,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,818,000 after purchasing an additional 2,770 shares during the period. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 48,367 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $22,698,000 after buying an additional 1,786 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at about $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,334 shares during the period. Finally, AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 20.0% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NOC stock opened at $473.94 on Tuesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $476.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $500.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $68.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 27.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.56.

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.