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

Mutual Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,784 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 169 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NOC shares. Citigroup raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $587.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 19th. Truist Financial started coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.94.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $497.13 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $478.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $495.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.18 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.96 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.