NewEdge Wealth LLC Has $3 Million Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,381 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 130 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the third quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,208,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.3% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 8,320 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,394,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 2,049 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,006 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 900 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $574.00 to $545.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price objective for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This trade represents a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 291 shares of company stock valued at $129,184. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $461.74 on Friday. 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 cap of $66.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, 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 current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $469.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $496.22.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.