Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Bought by Essex Savings Bank

Essex Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 819 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 24.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,387 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,041,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,229 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $972,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 135.9% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,333 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $581,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 22.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 683,427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $297,937,000 after acquiring an additional 125,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at approximately $21,492,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $472.19 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $483.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $493.62. 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 market cap of $68.80 billion, a PE ratio of 29.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.18 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $663,859 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $595.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut their price target on 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. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.94.

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.