Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. Sells 59 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,616 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 59 shares during the period. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $4,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 16,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,818,000 after acquiring an additional 2,770 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 48,367 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $22,698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $112,222,000 after buying an additional 5,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 20.0% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,938,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $466.29 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $477.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $499.22. The firm has a market cap of $67.50 billion, a PE ratio of 16.45, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. Analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 29.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was 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 approximately $286,183.41. This trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $662,868 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NOC shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $587.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $544.31.

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.