Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,503 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $4,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,677,781 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,949,556,000 after buying an additional 56,807 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,866,133,000 after acquiring an additional 461,307 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,164,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,954,452,000 after acquiring an additional 23,808 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,025,263 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,417,850,000 after purchasing an additional 21,903 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,807,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,317,402,000 after purchasing an additional 109,308 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Argus raised Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $545.31.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC opened at $473.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The stock has a market cap of $68.13 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $491.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $489.69.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This represents a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,182 in the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.