Patten Group Inc. Buys 93 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Patten Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,413 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 832,463 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $390,667,000 after buying an additional 23,018 shares during the period. NBW Capital LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. NBW Capital LLC now owns 8,806 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,133,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 11,384 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,342,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at about $241,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 71.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,023 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 2,515 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Argus raised Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. 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. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 target price for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

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 transaction of $82,383.36. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $304,217.72. This represents a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 755 shares of company stock valued at $342,972. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NOC stock opened at $473.57 on Tuesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $469.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $495.91.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

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 given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually 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.