Albion Financial Group UT Makes New $33,000 Investment in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 71 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 102.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 735,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $388,448,000 after buying an additional 372,500 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth approximately $74,206,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 16.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,276,000 after purchasing an additional 150,367 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,315,729,000 after purchasing an additional 141,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at $66,171,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE NOC opened at $502.03 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $478.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $495.31. The company has a market capitalization of $73.15 billion, a PE ratio of 31.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.18 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

Insider Activity

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on NOC. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 target price for the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen raised Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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 research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.94.

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.