Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Boosts Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,529 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,035 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $13,858,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Kovack Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth about $253,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 18,421 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,645,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Apriem Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 40.6% during the fourth quarter. Apriem Advisors now owns 1,495 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $701,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 6,381 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,995,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NOC stock opened at $454.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $65.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $469.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $496.76.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. On average, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes 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 management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NOC shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $574.00 to $545.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $542.75.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $304,217.72. The trade was a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 291 shares of company stock valued at $129,184. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.