Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,170 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 25 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $7,818,000 after purchasing an additional 2,770 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.8% during 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 buying an additional 1,786 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at about $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $112,222,000 after buying an additional 5,334 shares during the period. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1,316.9% during the fourth quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 16,139 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,574,000 after buying an additional 15,000 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total value of $213,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,883.75. The trade was a 65.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,126,405 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group decreased their price target 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.88.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC opened at $487.22 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $70.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $469.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $495.03.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Equities research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s 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.