Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 567 Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 567 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $112,222,000 after purchasing an additional 5,334 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 20.0% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Aviso Wealth Management increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 110.7% in the second quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,896 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna International Securities Ltd. acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter valued at about $1,133,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $480.29 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $69.98 billion, a PE ratio of 29.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $482.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $493.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $418.60 and a 52-week high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted 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 net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The company 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 earned $6.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 51.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NOC. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.94.

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.