Heritage Wealth Advisors Sells 125 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Heritage Wealth Advisors trimmed its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 17.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 594 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 102.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 735,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $388,448,000 after acquiring an additional 372,500 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth about $171,580,000. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 225.8% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 327,998 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $153,926,000 after purchasing an additional 227,314 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $94,370,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,315,729,000 after purchasing an additional 141,816 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In related news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total transaction of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This trade represents a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,126,405. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NOC shares. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut 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 note on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.88.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $506.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.37 billion, a PE ratio of 17.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $476.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $492.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 29.08%.

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.