Principle Wealth Partners LLC Has $891,000 Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,899 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 110 shares during the quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 11.6% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 1,366 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 18.0% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.9% in the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,158 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 63.0% in the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 194 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.0% in the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,178,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $473.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $476.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $500.03. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The firm has a market cap of $68.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 27.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes 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 of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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 issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays lowered their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Northrop Grumman from $595.00 to $574.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 target price for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.56.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.