Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Purchases 19,076 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 215.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,935 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 19,076 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $13,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NOC. Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $267,000. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at about $416,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 21,318 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $10,004,000 after buying an additional 1,419 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth about $1,089,000. Finally, Caxton Associates LP raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 1,994 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $936,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NOC shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus raised Northrop Grumman to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $545.31.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.2 %

NOC traded down $1.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $486.44. 875,388 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 890,423. The stock has a market cap of $70.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.15. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The stock's 50-day moving average is $497.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $487.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.07 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total transaction of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $304,217.72. The trade was a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,632. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company 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.