HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Buys 178 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,100 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $4,312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NOC shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $545.06.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $511.86 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $74.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $478.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $492.68.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total transaction of $82,383.36. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This trade represents a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,126,405 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.