1858 Wealth Management LLC Buys 56 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

1858 Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,783 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the quarter. 1858 Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 28,004 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $14,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 24.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,789 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,473,000 after buying an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.8% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 2,016 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth approximately $223,000. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE NOC opened at $482.79 on Wednesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $478.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $499.10. The stock has a market cap of $69.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

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

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NOC shares. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $544.31.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related 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 transaction of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,222 shares of company stock valued at $647,025. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman 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.