Summit Financial LLC Grows Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Summit Financial LLC grew its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,153 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NOC. Hoey Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 216.5% in the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 1,114 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $523,000 after buying an additional 762 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 450 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,164,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,954,452,000 after purchasing an additional 23,808 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 17,855 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,379,000 after purchasing an additional 3,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 967,335 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $453,961,000 after buying an additional 170,976 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total transaction of $213,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,883.75. This represents a 65.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,126,405. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $512.83 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $478.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $492.59. The company has a market cap of $74.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57.

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

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 29.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lowered their price target 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. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $545.06.

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.