Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Purchases New Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,098 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $985,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NOC. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 291.7% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 94 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $500.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $543.65.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $534.14 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $481.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $491.44. The firm has a market cap of $76.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.85, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.08%.

Insider Activity

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total transaction of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 709 shares in the company, valued at $304,217.72. This represents a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,182. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.