Cooper Financial Group Acquires 99 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Cooper Financial Group grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,906 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the quarter. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,243 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $570,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Talbot Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 25,696 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $12,059,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,005 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,410,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 29,695 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $13,936,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $959,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $551.40.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NYSE:NOC opened at $473.09 on Tuesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $484.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $493.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.18 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

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.