Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Acquired by Ascent Wealth Partners LLC

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,822 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 9,107 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,810,000 after buying an additional 1,049 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $392,000. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,425 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $753,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth $232,000. Finally, Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. now owns 4,377 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,311,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $448.59 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The company has a market capitalization of $64.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $471.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $497.52.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. On average, research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has initiated 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 purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 29.08%.

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.