Bokf Na Cuts Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

BOKF NA reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 28.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,595 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 1,040 shares during the quarter. BOKF NA's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 3.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 166,434 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $87,889,000 after buying an additional 4,969 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 89.3% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,257 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $622,000. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 46.5% during the 4th quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,371 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,582,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research raised Northrop Grumman from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $540.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $545.31.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:NOC traded down $11.22 on Wednesday, hitting $459.45. 708,756 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 893,585. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.15. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $498.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $486.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 709 shares in the company, valued at $304,217.72. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the company'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 owns 212,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. This represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,632 over the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.