Mark A. Welsh III Sells 33 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Stock

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 33 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.66, for a total transaction of $15,630.78. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,929,217.18. The trade was a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC traded up $0.93 during trading on Thursday, reaching $475.13. 528,568 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 985,724. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $68.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $469.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $495.46.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NOC shares. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Argus raised Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 target price on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,208,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.3% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 8,320 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,394,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 2,049 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,006 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 900 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

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.