Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Acquires 317 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,528 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 16.9% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 787 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 31.4% during the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,691 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $893,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 77,762 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $41,064,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total transaction of $213,788.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,883.75. This trade represents a 65.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 755 shares of company stock worth $342,972 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NOC. Argus raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Northrop Grumman from $574.00 to $545.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $542.75.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 2.6 %

NOC stock opened at $473.57 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $469.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $495.91. The company has a market cap of $68.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has approved a stock 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 29.08%.

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.