Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,197 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 171 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NOC. Lionshead Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at $357,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 145.2% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 38,560 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $18,096,000 after buying an additional 22,831 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,311 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,958,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 129.2% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 29,042 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $13,629,000 after purchasing an additional 16,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 52.5% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 13,737 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,447,000 after purchasing an additional 4,729 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Argus raised Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $545.31.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $471.36 on Wednesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $498.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $486.49. 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 firm has a market cap of $67.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.15.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.27). Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. The business had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.07 billion. On average, analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $82,383.36. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,632 in the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.