Fortis Capital Advisors LLC Buys 618 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Fortis Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,341 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the quarter. Northrop Grumman accounts for approximately 0.8% of Fortis Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at approximately $604,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 3.8% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 883 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $466,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 19,726 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $10,417,000 after buying an additional 1,002 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth approximately $1,130,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,504 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on NOC shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $424.00 to $521.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Argus upgraded Northrop Grumman to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $548.88.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC traded up $5.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $543.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 522,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 864,364. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $485.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $492.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This represents a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,127,182. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.