New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 6,163 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $2,892,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Homestead Advisers Corp grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp now owns 184,672 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $86,665,000 after purchasing an additional 6,700 shares during the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 5,965 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,799,000 after buying an additional 1,239 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 10,080 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,730,000 after buying an additional 2,308 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 234,364 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $109,640,000 after buying an additional 18,143 shares during the period. Finally, Korea Investment CORP lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 129,960 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $60,989,000 after acquiring an additional 31,607 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 directly owns 212,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total value of $213,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 245 shares of the company's stock, valued at $112,883.75. This trade represents a 65.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,126,405. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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 report on Friday, March 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $545.06.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC stock traded down $1.39 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $511.71. The stock had a trading volume of 491,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 866,297. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The company's 50-day moving average price is $478.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $492.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.06, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. As a group, research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

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

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.