Pines Wealth Management LLC Makes New $413,000 Investment in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 901 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $413,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NOC. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 24.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,387 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,229 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $972,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 135.9% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,333 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $581,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 683,427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $297,937,000 after acquiring an additional 125,262 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $21,492,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NOC shares. TD Cowen upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $550.94.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $472.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $68.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $483.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $493.62.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.18 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

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.