Prudent Man Advisors LLC Sells 40 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Prudent Man Advisors LLC cut its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 980 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 40 shares during the period. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $933,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 6,020 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,825,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,730,000. Motco lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Motco now owns 11,862 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,567,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, First American Bank lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. First American Bank now owns 16,758 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,864,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 709 shares in the company, valued at $304,217.72. This trade represents a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 291 shares of company stock worth $129,184 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $461.74 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $469.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $496.18. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The firm has a market cap of $66.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research raised Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Northrop Grumman from $574.00 to $545.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lowered 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.75.

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.