Scotia Capital Inc. Has $2.50 Million Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Scotia Capital Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 223 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NOC. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at $171,580,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,733,680 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $813,599,000 after buying an additional 343,018 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 225.8% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 327,998 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $153,926,000 after acquiring an additional 227,314 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth about $94,370,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 967,335 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $453,961,000 after acquiring an additional 170,976 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on NOC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $543.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total transaction of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This trade represents a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,182 in the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $534.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $481.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $491.66.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 29.08%.

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.