Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Has $33.82 Million Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,058 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,841 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $33,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.4% during the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $780,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the third quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,421 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,335,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.9% during the third quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,262 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,194,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.9% during the third quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,208,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.1% in the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,937 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $595.00 to $574.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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. StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $544.56.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC stock opened at $438.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $475.65 and its 200-day moving average is $499.46. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 27.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given 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 1.88%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 29.08%.

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.