X Square Capital LLC Increases Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

X Square Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,473 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. X Square Capital LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth $31,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,126,405 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NOC shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised Northrop Grumman from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $575.00 in a report on Thursday. Argus raised Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $545.06.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $513.95 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 firm has a market cap of $74.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $477.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $493.12.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.08%.

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.