Childress Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 31 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Childress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 531 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 48,367 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $22,698,000 after acquiring an additional 1,786 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $112,222,000 after purchasing an additional 5,334 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1,316.9% in the 4th quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 16,139 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,574,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE:NOC opened at $482.79 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $478.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $499.10. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $418.60 and a 52-week high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $69.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.04 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.08%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $595.00 to $574.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $544.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,222 shares of company stock valued at $647,025 in the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company 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.