Grove Bank & Trust Boosts Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 40.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 260 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 102.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 735,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $388,448,000 after buying an additional 372,500 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth about $74,206,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 16.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,276,000 after purchasing an additional 150,367 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,315,729,000 after purchasing an additional 141,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth about $66,171,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.94.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $482.49 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $70.30 billion, a PE ratio of 29.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $480.55 and a 200 day moving average of $494.51. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.