Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Bought by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 179,205 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,393 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.12% of Northrop Grumman worth $83,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,343 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 779 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 51,184 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $23,961,000 after buying an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KFA Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at about $210,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total transaction of $322,239.42. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,317.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total value of $95,482.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,784.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 1.6 %

NOC traded down $7.61 on Friday, reaching $480.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,371,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,120,454. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $462.59 and its 200 day moving average is $465.77. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $414.56 and a 1 year high of $496.89. The stock has a market cap of $71.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. The company had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.50 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $1.87 per share. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NOC shares. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. TheStreet lowered Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $503.00.

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.