Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC Has $212,000 Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 452 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 102.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 735,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $388,448,000 after purchasing an additional 372,500 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $74,206,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 113.6% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 296,844 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $129,409,000 after acquiring an additional 157,854 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,276,000 after acquiring an additional 150,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 141,816 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen raised Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price target for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.94.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $475.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $69.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $483.30 and its 200 day moving average is $493.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.18 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $663,859 in the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.