Commerce Bank Purchases 4,239 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Commerce Bank increased its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,935 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,239 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $43,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,677,781 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,949,556,000 after acquiring an additional 56,807 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,866,133,000 after purchasing an additional 461,307 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,164,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,954,452,000 after purchasing an additional 23,808 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,025,263 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,417,850,000 after purchasing an additional 21,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,807,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,317,402,000 after buying an additional 109,308 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $539.96 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $487.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $492.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $418.60 and a 52-week high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. Analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $304,217.72. This trade represents a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,182. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NOC. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Argus raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $548.88.

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.