FourThought Financial Partners LLC Has $8.13 Million Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,367 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 71 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $8,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. TCG Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth approximately $800,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 118.8% in the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 10,174 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,490,000 after purchasing an additional 5,524 shares during the last quarter. Blue Fin Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Fin Capital Inc. now owns 4,649 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 732 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth about $1,152,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on NOC. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $509.38.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC traded down $5.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $469.09. 1,443,462 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,144,324. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $414.56 and a 1-year high of $496.89. The company has a market cap of $69.42 billion, a PE ratio of 32.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $464.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $465.81.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. The firm had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.50 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $1.87 per share. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 52.31%.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In related news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Northrop Grumman news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total value of $95,482.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,784.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $430,103.35. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,863,180.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147. 0.22% of the stock is currently 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.