KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC Purchases 561 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,321 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 561 shares during the quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Greenhouse Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,740 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,694,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. JGP Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 845 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 58,748 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $27,570,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,522 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,591,000 after buying an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $480.29 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The stock has a market cap of $69.98 billion, a PE ratio of 29.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $482.29 and a 200 day moving average of $493.47.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.18 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. 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. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859 in the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.