New Hampshire Trust Purchases 87 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

New Hampshire Trust lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,322 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,140,892 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,186,681,000 after purchasing an additional 17,596 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,003,360 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,581,644,000 after acquiring an additional 18,791 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,315,729,000 after acquiring an additional 141,816 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $474,276,000 after acquiring an additional 150,367 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 809,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $427,444,000 after acquiring an additional 3,211 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NOC. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.94.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NOC stock opened at $482.49 on Tuesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $418.60 and a 52-week high of $555.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $480.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $494.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $70.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.89, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.18 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors 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 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to buy up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.