ORG Partners LLC Sells 74 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

ORG Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,862 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 74 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $876,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth about $61,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 233,630 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $101,851,000 after acquiring an additional 10,572 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 3,779 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,647,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 3.7% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 28,544 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $12,444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:NOC opened at $458.37 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.40, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $484.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $492.20.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.18 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $663,859. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $595.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $551.40.

Northrop Grumman 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.