Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp Buys Shares of 107 Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 107 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Sapient Capital LLC increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 2,049 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,006 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 900 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $933,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 432 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NOC shares. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research raised Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group cut their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Argus raised Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Eight 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $545.06.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC opened at $513.95 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $477.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $493.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,126,405 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.