Narwhal Capital Management Grows Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Narwhal Capital Management grew its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,937 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the quarter. Narwhal Capital Management’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $8,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NOC. Asio Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 6,228 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,923,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 68.8% in the fourth quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 932 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 978 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $459,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,049 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $962,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pflug Koory LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 3,370 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,582,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $587.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen raised Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 target price for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.94.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $497.13 on Monday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The stock has a market cap of $72.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $478.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $496.36.

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

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

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