Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Makes New Investment in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 557 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 973 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 21,667 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $10,168,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 101,282 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $47,531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,067,000 after buying an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. now owns 2,165 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,016,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Northrop Grumman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price target 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 boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $499.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $478.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $495.36. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The company has a market cap of $72.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.95, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.18 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.