Hartford Investment Management Co. Has $3.97 Million Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,454 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 193 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,967,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 16,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,818,000 after buying an additional 2,770 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 48,367 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $22,698,000 after acquiring an additional 1,786 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $112,222,000 after purchasing an additional 5,334 shares during the period. Finally, AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 20.0% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $595.00 to $574.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.5 %

NOC stock opened at $471.25 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $476.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $499.98. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 27.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 29.08%.

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

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.