Hoey Investments Inc. Has $523,000 Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 216.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,114 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 762 shares during the quarter. Hoey Investments Inc.'s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC stock traded up $0.82 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $512.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 710,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 866,771. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $478.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $492.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $74.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31.

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Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is 29.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares of the company's stock, valued at $304,217.72. This represents a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,126,405 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on NOC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $545.06.

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.