Forum Financial Management LP Sells 192 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Forum Financial Management LP decreased its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,499 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 192 shares during the quarter. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,866,133,000 after buying an additional 461,307 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $171,580,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,733,680 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $813,599,000 after purchasing an additional 343,018 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 225.8% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 327,998 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $153,926,000 after purchasing an additional 227,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth approximately $94,370,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on NOC. Truist Financial upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $424.00 to $521.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $548.88.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $539.96 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $77.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. The business’s 50-day moving average is $488.43 and its 200 day moving average is $491.81. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57.

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 the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. On average, 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total transaction of $82,383.36. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This trade represents a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,182 over the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.