Summit Global Investments Has $4.21 Million Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Summit Global Investments cut its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 54.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,224 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 10,000 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments' holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $4,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,677,781 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $5,949,556,000 after purchasing an additional 56,807 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,866,133,000 after acquiring an additional 461,307 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,164,700 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,954,452,000 after acquiring an additional 23,808 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,025,263 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,417,850,000 after acquiring an additional 21,903 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,807,223 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,317,402,000 after acquiring an additional 109,308 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on NOC. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine investment 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 stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $545.31.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC traded up $4.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $484.36. The company had a trading volume of 1,304,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 895,507. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $493.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $482.56. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The firm has a market cap of $69.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.09, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.15.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. As a group, analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $2.31 per share. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73% 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. Insiders sold a total of 3,849 shares of company stock worth $1,831,461 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

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.