Modern Wealth Management LLC Takes $205,000 Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Modern Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 433 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 102.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 735,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $388,448,000 after acquiring an additional 372,500 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $171,580,000. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 225.8% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 327,998 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $153,926,000 after purchasing an additional 227,314 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth $94,370,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,315,729,000 after buying an additional 141,816 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $545.06.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total transaction of $213,788.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,883.75. The trade was a 65.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,126,405. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $511.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $478.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $493.03. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The company has a market cap of $74.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.06, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.