126,027 Shares in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Bought by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 126,027 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $622,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC owned 0.09% of Northrop Grumman at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NOC. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth approximately $61,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 233,630 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $101,851,000 after acquiring an additional 10,572 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 3,779 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,647,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.7% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 28,544 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $12,444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $663,859. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $458.37 on Friday. 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 fifty day moving average of $484.74 and a 200 day moving average of $492.20. The company has a market capitalization of $66.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57.

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

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program 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 programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on NOC. Barclays dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $551.40.

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.