506 Shares in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Purchased by Fortem Financial Group LLC

Fortem Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 506 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 101.9% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 208 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 57,901 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,242,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.0% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,627 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,017,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 800.0% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 19,585 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,538,000 after purchasing an additional 17,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 28.4% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,319 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $454.70 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The stock has a market cap of $66.25 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $488.53 and a 200-day moving average of $492.28.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.18 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $565.00 to $505.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $549.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,222 shares of company stock valued at $648,786 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

About Northrop Grumman

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.