Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Purchases 106 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $4,011,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,893 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $888,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,348 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,918,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 232 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,092 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $663,859. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial began coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $550.94.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NOC opened at $482.49 on Friday. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $481.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $493.38. The company has a market cap of $70.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.89, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.18 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 51.05%.

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.