Copley Financial Group Inc. Takes $479,000 Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 908 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $479,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $112,222,000 after buying an additional 5,334 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 20.0% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. Aviso Wealth Management boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 110.7% in the second quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,896 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $827,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna International Securities Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth about $1,133,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth about $4,089,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $546.81.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock traded down $1.77 during trading on Friday, reaching $479.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 78,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 858,951. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $507.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $487.88. The company has a market capitalization of $69.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.33. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $6.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $666,461 in the last ninety days. Corporate 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.