Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Has $90.50 Million Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 192,850 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 9,337 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Northrop Grumman worth $90,503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,140,892 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,186,681,000 after buying an additional 17,596 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,003,360 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,581,644,000 after purchasing an additional 18,791 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,315,729,000 after purchasing an additional 141,816 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 809,445 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $427,444,000 after buying an additional 3,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 102.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 735,600 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $388,448,000 after acquiring an additional 372,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $587.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Northrop Grumman from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $550.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE NOC traded up $2.16 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $483.70. 1,468,443 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 874,862. The company has a 50 day moving average of $478.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $497.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.48 billion, a PE ratio of 29.97, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is 51.05%.

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

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.