Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Makes New Investment in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,114 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $523,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 16,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,818,000 after purchasing an additional 2,770 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 48,367 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $22,698,000 after buying an additional 1,786 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $604,000. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 74.4% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 156,149 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $73,279,000 after acquiring an additional 66,638 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.4 %

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $511.86 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $478.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $493.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NOC. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research 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, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $545.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 $304,217.72. This trade represents a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,126,405. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.