Burney Co. Sells 48 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Burney Co. decreased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOCFree Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,094 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 48 shares during the period. Burney Co.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 24.3% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,387 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,229 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $972,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at about $21,492,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 336,133 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $146,673,000 after purchasing an additional 15,358 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 8.1% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 3,272 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Northrop Grumman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.94.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $480.29 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $482.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $493.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.76, a PEG ratio of 0.87 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:NOCGet Free Report) 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. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were 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 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 accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

About Northrop Grumman

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC)

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