Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 65.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 424 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 795 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sapient Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 2,049 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $962,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,006 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 900 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $933,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 432 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $545.06.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE NOC traded up $6.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $513.95. 927,934 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 833,236. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business's 50 day moving average is $476.94 and its 200-day moving average is $492.97. The company has a market capitalization of $74.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.08%.

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

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

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

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.