180 Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

180 Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 27.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,271 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 475 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NOC. Marcum Wealth LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 1,138 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Marion Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Marion Wealth Management now owns 2,720 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Parisi Gray Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 1,156 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth $266,000. Finally, Bar Harbor Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth $208,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Northrop Grumman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price target 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. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $475.37 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $483.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $493.62. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The company has a market capitalization of $69.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.18 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.05%.

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

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.