Haverford Trust Co Sells 315 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Haverford Trust Co cut its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 15.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,729 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 315 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 225.8% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 327,998 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $153,926,000 after purchasing an additional 227,314 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 599 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth $523,000. McCollum Christoferson Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. McCollum Christoferson Group LLC now owns 12,921 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,064,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth $113,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total value of $213,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 245 shares in the company, valued at $112,883.75. The trade was a 65.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,126,405. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.9 %

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $495.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $475.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $492.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.48, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted 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 return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 29.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial began coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays dropped their target price 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. Wolfe Research raised Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.88.

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.