Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Director Mark A. Welsh III Sells 33 Shares of Stock

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 33 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.74, for a total transaction of $15,072.42. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,890,446.86. The trade was a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $452.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $65.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.03, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $487.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $492.42. 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 (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.18 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,891,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,141 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,131,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,025 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PBMares Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,421 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on NOC. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $565.00 to $505.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $549.93.

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.