Eastern Bank Reduces Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Eastern Bank cut its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,052 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 22 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,891,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,141 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,025 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $780,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PBMares Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,421 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NOC stock opened at $473.09 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $484.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $493.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.93 billion, a PE ratio of 29.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.18 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $551.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.