First American Bank Grows Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

First American Bank grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,758 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. First American Bank’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $7,864,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter worth about $522,000. abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 27.1% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 12,868 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,756,000 after buying an additional 2,747 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at $264,000. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% during the third quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,262 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at about $229,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 1.1 %

NOC stock opened at $459.90 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $469.59 and a 200 day moving average of $496.50. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in 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 an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total transaction of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $304,217.72. This represents a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 291 shares of company stock valued at $129,184 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $542.75.

About Northrop Grumman

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.