New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 189,391 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 3,730 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.13% of Northrop Grumman worth $88,879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% in the 3rd 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 3rd 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 3rd 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 809,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $427,444,000 after purchasing an additional 3,211 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 102.6% in the 3rd 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 1.8 %

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $433.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $62.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $472.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $498.17. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. 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 (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.