Metis Global Partners LLC Has $2.83 Million Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,020 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,208,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 8,320 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,394,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 2,049 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,006 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 900 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.75.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $304,217.72. The trade was a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 291 shares of company stock valued at $129,184 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $461.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $66.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $469.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $496.18. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

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, beating 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 fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has approved a share buyback 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 purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership 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.