Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Sells 65 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lowered its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,087 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 65 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,140,892 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,186,681,000 after acquiring an additional 17,596 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,003,360 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,581,644,000 after purchasing an additional 18,791 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,315,729,000 after buying an additional 141,816 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 16.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,276,000 after buying an additional 150,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 809,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $427,444,000 after buying an additional 3,211 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $663,859 in the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NOC. Citigroup raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $587.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.94.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC opened at $504.16 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $479.52 and its 200-day moving average is $494.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.46 billion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.18 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman announced 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 buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman 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.