Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Sells 4,589 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lessened its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 29.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,900 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 4,589 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $5,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $780,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,421 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,335,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,262 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,208,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,937 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $595.00 to $574.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $544.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NOC stock opened at $433.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $62.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $472.52 and a 200-day moving average of $498.17. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.08%.

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.