Adirondack Trust Co. Sells 50 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Adirondack Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 650 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Adirondack Trust Co.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 48,367 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $22,698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $112,222,000 after buying an additional 5,334 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,938,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Finally, Aviso Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 110.7% in the second quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,896 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NOC shares. Citigroup upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $587.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price target on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.94.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE NOC opened at $502.03 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 current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $478.61 and a 200-day moving average of $495.36. The company has a market cap of $73.15 billion, a PE ratio of 31.10, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The firm had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman 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.