Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC Sells 416 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lessened its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,007 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 416 shares during the quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $5,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 74.6% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,167 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,253,000 after acquiring an additional 2,208 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 4.1% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 767 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 104.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 246,581 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $107,260,000 after buying an additional 126,063 shares during the period. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,454,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,276,000 after acquiring an additional 150,367 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on NOC shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays lowered their target price on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup upgraded 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 report on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price objective for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.94.

Insider Activity

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $663,859 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $497.13 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $478.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $495.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.18 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.