Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Purchases 204 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 18.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,290 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 204 shares during the quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $605,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares in the company, valued at $304,217.72. The trade was a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 target price for the company. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.88.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.1 %

NOC stock opened at $494.71 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $470.97 and a 200 day moving average of $494.83. The firm has a market cap of $71.61 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.08%.

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.