Moors & Cabot Inc. Grows Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,090 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Founders Financial Alliance LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 840 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,267 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 8,594 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,614 shares during the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davis R M Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 64,765 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $30,394,000 after acquiring an additional 3,238 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays dropped 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $542.88.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC opened at $475.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $471.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $494.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,126,405 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman 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.