SouthState Corp Has $59,000 Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

SouthState Corp reduced its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 17.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 126 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 27 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $59,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 31.0% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 5,870 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,584,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 2,251 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $991,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 547 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 69.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 986 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD Second National Bank of Aurora acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth $605,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $573,321.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $430,103.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,863,180.69. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on NOC. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $509.38.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC stock traded down $5.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $469.09. 1,443,462 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,144,324. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $69.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $414.56 and a one year high of $496.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $464.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $465.95.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. The business had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.50 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $1.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 52.31%.

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.