Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. reduced its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 57.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 112 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $38,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at approximately $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $112,222,000 after purchasing an additional 5,334 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 20.0% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares in the last quarter. Aviso Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 110.7% in the second quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,896 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna International Securities Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,133,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $482.49 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $480.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $493.71. The firm has a market cap of $70.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.89, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.18 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NOC shares. Barclays dropped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.94.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. This trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.