ARS Investment Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

ARS Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,667 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 700 shares during the quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $10,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.9% during the third quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,141 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,131,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.0% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,025 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,069,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $780,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PBMares Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NOC. UBS Group lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $544.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $550.94.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 4.5 %

NOC traded up $21.78 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $504.16. 1,309,771 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 820,172. 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 $73.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.35. The business's 50 day moving average is $479.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $494.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.18 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859 over the last quarter. 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.