Natixis Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,371 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 1,451 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $29,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 16,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,818,000 after buying an additional 2,770 shares in the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 48,367 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $22,698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at approximately $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $112,222,000 after purchasing an additional 5,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1,316.9% in the fourth quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 16,139 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,574,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $542.88.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

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 transaction of $82,383.36. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This trade represents a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,126,405 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:NOC opened at $490.88 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $472.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $494.03. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.