Homestead Advisers Corp Increases Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Homestead Advisers Corp increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 184,672 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,700 shares during the quarter. Northrop Grumman accounts for 2.1% of Homestead Advisers Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Homestead Advisers Corp’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $86,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on NOC. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wolfe Research raised Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total value of $213,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,883.75. The trade was a 65.44 % 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 owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NOC stock opened at $506.26 on Thursday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $476.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $492.97. The company has a market capitalization of $73.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.86, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

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

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Northrop Grumman

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.