Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,050 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PBMares Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the third quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,421 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,262 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,208,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.1% in the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,937 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,023,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.3% during the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 8,320 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,394,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NOC. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut 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 note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price target on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $544.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $448.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The company has a market cap of $64.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.83, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $471.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $497.52.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.