Summit Global Investments Decreases Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Summit Global Investments lessened its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 54.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,224 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 10,000 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $4,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 291.7% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 94 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,849 shares of company stock valued at $1,831,461. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $545.31.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $479.28 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $493.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $483.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The company has a market cap of $68.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.15.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. Research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $2.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 36.46%.

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.