Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC lessened its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,393 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 32 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 101,282 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $47,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,321 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,067,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Tudor Financial Inc. grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. now owns 2,165 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,016,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. New Hampshire Trust increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 5,322 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,498,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 27,156 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $12,744,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $587.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.94.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.5 %

NOC stock opened at $502.03 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $478.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $495.31. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.15 billion, a PE ratio of 31.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.35.

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. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.18 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.