Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 567 Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 567 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of NOC. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 24.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,387 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,229 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $972,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $21,492,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 336,133 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $146,673,000 after buying an additional 15,358 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 8.1% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 3,272 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,426,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on NOC shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Northrop Grumman from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $663,859 in the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $480.29 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $482.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $493.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The firm had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.18 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are 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.