MRP Capital Investments LLC Sells 24 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

MRP Capital Investments LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,218 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 24 shares during the quarter. Northrop Grumman makes up about 1.4% of MRP Capital Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. MRP Capital Investments LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NOC. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 18,562 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $9,802,000 after purchasing an additional 1,844 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,747 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,035,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 6,980 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,686,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,229 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $649,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 100,430 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,034,000 after acquiring an additional 8,502 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NOC. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Argus upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.88.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total transaction of $213,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,883.75. This trade represents a 65.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold a total of 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,126,405 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.5 %

NOC opened at $488.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $70.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business has a 50 day moving average of $474.50 and a 200-day moving average of $493.74. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results 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 predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman 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.