Allstate Corp Makes New Investment in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 4,132 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,939,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,406 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. RiverFront Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $798,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. denkapparat Operations GmbH purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth $368,000. Finally, X Square Capital LLC increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 3,473 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,630,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $575.00 in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $545.06.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.4 %

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $511.86 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The business has a fifty day moving average of $478.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $492.84. The firm has a market cap of $74.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share 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, analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.08%.

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

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total transaction of $213,788.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 245 shares in the company, valued at $112,883.75. The trade was a 65.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,126,405 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.