Stolper Co Has $6.95 Million Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Stolper Co boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 14,798 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the quarter. Northrop Grumman comprises 2.3% of Stolper Co’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Stolper Co’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $6,945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ERn Financial LLC grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $504,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 128.8% during the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $522,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $208,000. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 1,369 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,469 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,566,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $472.19 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $483.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $493.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.18 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NOC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.94.

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.