Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Sells 138 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC cut its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,283 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 138 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,206 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 19.6% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,778 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $775,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 9.8% in the second quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 895 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 29.5% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 23,230 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $10,127,000 after purchasing an additional 5,285 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 12,673.3% during the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $835,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NOC shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.94.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.3 %

NOC opened at $482.49 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $480.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $494.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.18 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.