Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Sells 65 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,087 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 65 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the third quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,141 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,025 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $780,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PBMares Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,421 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,335,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $587.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Northrop Grumman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 target price on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.94.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 4.5 %

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $504.16 on Wednesday. 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 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $479.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $494.82. The stock has a market cap of $73.46 billion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.18 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 buy up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.05%.

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.