Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 201,090 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,370,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 16,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,818,000 after acquiring an additional 2,770 shares during the period. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 48,367 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $22,698,000 after acquiring an additional 1,786 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $112,222,000 after buying an additional 5,334 shares during the period. Finally, AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 20.0% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,938,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 291 shares of company stock valued at $129,184. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $459.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $469.59 and its 200-day moving average is $496.50.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NOC. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group cut their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.75.

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.