Patten & Patten Inc. TN Increases Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,288 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 7.2% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 20,597 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $10,877,000 after buying an additional 1,382 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 165.7% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 28,512 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $15,056,000 after buying an additional 17,781 shares during the period. BCGM Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.0% in the third quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,312 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,333,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at approximately $759,000. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 24.2% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,467 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,303,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total transaction of $213,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $112,883.75. The trade was a 65.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,126,405 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on NOC. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Argus raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.88.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $486.10 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $471.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $494.23. The firm has a market cap of $70.37 billion, a PE ratio of 17.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.