Allstate Corp Acquires New Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,132 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,939,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of NOC. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,406 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth $205,000. Level Four Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $798,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. denkapparat Operations GmbH bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at $368,000. Finally, X Square Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 3,473 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,630,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.4 %

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $511.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $478.20 and a 200 day moving average of $492.84.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced 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, research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $500.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 target price for the company. Finally, Argus upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $545.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total transaction of $213,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,883.75. This represents a 65.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,126,405. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.