Avestar Capital LLC Has $318,000 Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Avestar Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 677 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $780,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,421 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,262 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,208,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,937 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,023,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $438.70 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $475.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $499.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 27.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

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 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research raised Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Susquehanna cut their target price on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.56.

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.