Bogart Wealth LLC Cuts Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Bogart Wealth LLC cut its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 51.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 60 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 64 shares during the quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $28,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 102.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 735,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $388,448,000 after purchasing an additional 372,500 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,315,729,000 after buying an additional 141,816 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at about $66,171,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at about $622,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 154.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 157,601 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $83,224,000 after buying an additional 95,724 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 3.6 %

NOC stock opened at $438.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $474.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $499.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. As a group, analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 27.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 29.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NOC. UBS Group decreased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $544.56.

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.