Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Meridian Wealth Management LLC

Meridian Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,720 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 23 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 19.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $22,698,000 after acquiring an additional 1,786 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $112,222,000 after acquiring an additional 5,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total transaction of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $304,217.72. This represents a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 755 shares of company stock valued at $342,972 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on NOC shares. Argus raised Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.75.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NOC stock opened at $473.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $469.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $495.91. 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 $68.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 29.08%.

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.