Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Has $4.03 Million Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 23.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,594 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,614 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $4,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Leavell Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at approximately $215,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at $351,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 16,647 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,791,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,852 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth $237,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NOC shares. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Nine equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $494.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.61 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $470.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $494.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.