Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Sells 72 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,800 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 72 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,160 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $544,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 620 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 225.8% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 327,998 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $153,926,000 after purchasing an additional 227,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 599 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NOC. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $542.88.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $506.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $73.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $476.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $492.88. 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 quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total transaction of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,217.72. The trade was a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,126,405 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% 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.