Apriem Advisors Has $701,000 Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Apriem Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 40.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,495 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the period. Apriem Advisors’ holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% during the third quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,262 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,194,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the third quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,208,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 8,320 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,394,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 2,049 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,006 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $574.00 to $545.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research raised Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 709 shares in the company, valued at $304,217.72. This trade represents a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 291 shares of company stock worth $129,184 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $454.80 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.05, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $469.74 and a 200-day moving average of $496.76. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

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

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

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.