Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Acquired by Country Trust Bank

Country Trust Bank increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,419 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,999 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank owned approximately 0.06% of Northrop Grumman worth $41,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NOC. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NOC shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.94.

Insider Activity

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $663,859. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NOC opened at $483.70 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $478.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $497.53. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $70.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.