Tradewinds LLC. Buys Shares of 482 Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Tradewinds LLC. purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 482 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 102.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 735,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $388,448,000 after purchasing an additional 372,500 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth about $171,580,000. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 225.8% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 327,998 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $153,926,000 after buying an additional 227,314 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,370,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 967,335 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $453,961,000 after buying an additional 170,976 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reduced their target price on 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. StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial began 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. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $545.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $304,217.72. The trade was a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,126,405. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $512.83 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $478.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $492.59. The company has a market cap of $74.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.10, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman declared 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 outstanding 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 usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman 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.