Whipplewood Advisors LLC Makes New $31,000 Investment in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 67 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 102.6% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 735,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $388,448,000 after purchasing an additional 372,500 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 6.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,315,729,000 after buying an additional 141,816 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,171,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth approximately $622,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 154.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 157,601 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $83,224,000 after acquiring an additional 95,724 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on NOC. Truist Financial began coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price target for the company. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $574.00 to $545.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.75.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.4 %

NOC stock opened at $461.74 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $469.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $496.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $66.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 29.08%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares in the company, valued at $304,217.72. This represents a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 291 shares of company stock valued at $129,184. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.