Bar Harbor Wealth Management Buys Shares of 443 Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Bar Harbor Wealth Management bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 443 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,140,892 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,186,681,000 after buying an additional 17,596 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,003,360 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,581,644,000 after acquiring an additional 18,791 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 6.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,315,729,000 after purchasing an additional 141,816 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 16.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,276,000 after purchasing an additional 150,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 809,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $427,444,000 after purchasing an additional 3,211 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NOC opened at $473.09 on Tuesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $484.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $493.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $68.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.18 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $551.40.

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.