Modus Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,141 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,025 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.4% during the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $780,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PBMares Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the third quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,421 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were 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 $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $666,461. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on NOC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup boosted their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $553.27.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $467.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $490.71 and a 200-day moving average of $490.95. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $418.60 and a 52-week high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09.

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

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.