Mark A. Welsh III Sells 33 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Stock

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 33 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.66, for a total transaction of $15,630.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,073 shares in the company, valued at $1,929,217.18. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC traded up $0.93 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $475.13. 528,568 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 985,724. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $469.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $495.46. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week 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. The stock has a market cap of $68.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 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 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.08%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. 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 target on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped 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 note on Friday, January 31st. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $542.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NOC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,677,781 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,949,556,000 after acquiring an additional 56,807 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,866,133,000 after purchasing an additional 461,307 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,164,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,954,452,000 after buying an additional 23,808 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,025,263 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,417,850,000 after buying an additional 21,903 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,807,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,317,402,000 after buying an additional 109,308 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% 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.