200 Shares in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Bought by Kentucky Trust Co

Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 200 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 16,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,818,000 after purchasing an additional 2,770 shares in the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $112,222,000 after purchasing an additional 5,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 20.0% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NOC. StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays decreased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial began coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $544.56.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $471.25 on Thursday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The company has a market cap of $68.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.35. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $476.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $499.98.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced 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 return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Sell-side analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 27.94 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows 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 shares are undervalued.

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.