Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,918 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 58 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the third quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,141 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,131,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.0% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,025 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $780,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. PBMares Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,421 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,262 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $587.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $544.31.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.5 %

NOC stock opened at $468.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $67.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $476.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $499.60.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 27.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.