Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 72.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,493 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 176.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,970 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,394,000 after acquiring an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 641 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 367.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,516 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,978 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 25.7% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 666 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 14.8% during the second quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 519 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $657.09 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $581.29 and a 200 day moving average of $580.15. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52 week low of $426.24 and a 52 week high of $674.75. The company has a market cap of $93.78 billion, a PE ratio of 23.64, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.43 by $1.24. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 25.49%. The business had revenue of $10.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $2.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 33.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NOC. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $630.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $752.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $700.00 price objective on Northrop Grumman and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $710.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $656.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $4,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 194,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,761,200. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 97 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $564.08, for a total transaction of $54,715.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,414,826.48. This trade represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 10,097 shares of company stock worth $6,099,716 in the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is a leading U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that designs, builds and sustains advanced systems, products and technologies for government and commercial customers. Formed through the combination of Northrop and Grumman businesses in the 1990s, the company’s portfolio spans manned and unmanned aircraft, space systems, missile defense, radar and sensor systems, and integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions.

The company’s work includes airframe and platform manufacturing, space hardware and satellite systems, advanced mission systems and cybersecurity services, as well as logistics, sustainment and modernization programs.