Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,218 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $17,466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 16.9% during the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 787 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $878,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 31.4% in the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,691 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 12.5% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 357,466 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $188,767,000 after purchasing an additional 39,628 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research raised Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Argus raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $542.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total transaction of $213,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 245 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 755 shares of company stock valued at $342,972 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $464.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $67.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $469.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $495.61. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57. 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 issued 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 return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

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 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.08%.

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

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.