Marion Wealth Management Has $1.28 Million Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Marion Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,720 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the quarter. Marion Wealth Management’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Parisi Gray Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 1,156 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth $266,000. Bar Harbor Wealth Management bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at about $208,000. Cooper Financial Group increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 1,906 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $894,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,243 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $570,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NOC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $551.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $663,859. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 3.1 %

NOC traded up $14.40 during trading on Monday, reaching $473.09. 964,465 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 790,472. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $484.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $493.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.93 billion, a PE ratio of 29.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.18 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.