Evernest Financial Advisors LLC Has $344,000 Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Evernest Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 734 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 23.6% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,832 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,722,000 after buying an additional 2,066 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 16,093 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,019,000 after acquiring an additional 898 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1,546.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 214 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 87.8% in the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 21,802 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $9,505,000 after purchasing an additional 10,192 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth approximately $92,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $595.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $663,859. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $483.70 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $478.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $497.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.97, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. Equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.96 earnings per share for the current year.

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 $2.06 dividend. 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 1.70%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign 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.