Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. decreased its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,137 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 60 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $534,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 16,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,818,000 after acquiring an additional 2,770 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 48,367 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $22,698,000 after acquiring an additional 1,786 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at about $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $112,222,000 after acquiring an additional 5,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1,316.9% during the 4th quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 16,139 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,574,000 after acquiring an additional 15,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 2.5 %

NYSE NOC opened at $487.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $70.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $469.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $495.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 EPS 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, sell-side analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total transaction of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This represents a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,126,405. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.