Wesbanco Bank Inc. Sells 85 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,846 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 48,367 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $22,698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $112,222,000 after buying an additional 5,334 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Finally, Aviso Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 110.7% during the second quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,896 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $499.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $478.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $495.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.18 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program 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 programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on NOC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $587.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned 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 $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.