Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Blue Fin Capital Inc.

Blue Fin Capital Inc. lessened its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,834 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 77 shares during the quarter. Blue Fin Capital Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sapient Capital LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.1% during the fourth 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 position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,006 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $933,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 432 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $545.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the company’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 value 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 represents a 65.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,313 shares of company stock valued at $2,045,249. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.6%

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $473.84 on Thursday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $495.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $485.08. The company has a market capitalization of $68.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $2.31 dividend. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.52%.

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.