National Wealth Management Group LLC Invests $336,000 in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

National Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 717 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC opened at $512.42 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The company has a fifty day moving average of $478.79 and a 200-day moving average of $492.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

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

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. 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 payout ratio is 29.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total value of $213,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,883.75. The trade was a 65.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,126,405. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NOC. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Argus raised Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Eight research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $545.06.

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.