Dark Forest Capital Management LP Has $1.02 Million Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 124.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,177 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aldebaran Financial Inc. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 827 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 59,840 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $28,082,000 after purchasing an additional 3,998 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,151 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,356,000 after buying an additional 3,905 shares in the last quarter. Landing Point Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth about $789,000. Finally, Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,634,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on NOC. Argus upgraded Northrop Grumman to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note 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 on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $545.31.

Insider Activity

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total transaction of $213,788.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 245 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $112,883.75. This represents a 65.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 three months, insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,127,182. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NOC stock traded down $1.80 on Tuesday, reaching $481.51. The company had a trading volume of 228,730 shares, compared to its average volume of 886,519. The company has a 50-day moving average of $492.65 and a 200-day moving average of $489.38. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The stock has a market cap of $69.30 billion, a PE ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.07 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.52%.

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.