Choate Investment Advisors Purchases 33 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Choate Investment Advisors grew its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Globeflex Capital L P bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth $8,306,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 63,371 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $29,739,000 after buying an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth about $1,005,000. HMV Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at about $304,000. Finally, Midwest Professional Planners LTD. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 4,719 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,215,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total value of $213,788.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 245 shares in the company, valued at $112,883.75. This trade represents a 65.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,126,405 in the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NOC shares. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Nine 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $542.88.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.9 %

NOC stock opened at $486.10 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The company has a market cap of $70.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. The business has a fifty day moving average of $471.93 and a 200-day moving average of $494.23.

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

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 29.08%.

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.