Bearing Point Capital LLC Takes $3.79 Million Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Bearing Point Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 8,083 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,793,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 274.1% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,566 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,880 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 5,403 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 28.1% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,814 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,315,729,000 after buying an additional 141,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 166,434 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $87,889,000 after buying an additional 4,969 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $545.31.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 709 shares in the company, valued at $304,217.72. The trade was a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,127,182. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE NOC opened at $491.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $70.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month 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. The business’s fifty day moving average is $495.65 and its 200 day moving average is $488.44.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

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.