ERn Financial LLC Has $504,000 Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

ERn Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,075 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the quarter. ERn Financial LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $112,222,000 after purchasing an additional 5,334 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242 shares in the last quarter. Aviso Wealth Management increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 110.7% in the 2nd quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,896 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $827,000 after buying an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna International Securities Ltd. purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth $1,133,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $663,859 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on NOC shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.94.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $472.19 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $483.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $493.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.18 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to buy up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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 given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

Northrop Grumman 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.