Merit Financial Group LLC Raises Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,496 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 67 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,140,892 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,186,681,000 after buying an additional 17,596 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,003,360 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,581,644,000 after buying an additional 18,791 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 6.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,315,729,000 after buying an additional 141,816 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 16.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,276,000 after buying an additional 150,367 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 809,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $427,444,000 after buying an additional 3,211 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $663,859 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:NOC opened at $482.49 on Tuesday. 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. The company has a market cap of $70.30 billion, a PE ratio of 29.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $480.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $494.51.

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

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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 dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 51.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on NOC shares. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a 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 company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.94.

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.