U.S. arms maker Northrop Grumman Corp said on Thursday it plans to purchase back 25 percent of its outstanding shares by the end of 2015, after its board of directors approved $4 billion in further share repurchases.The board's action increased the total amount available for share buybacks to $5 billion. Northrop said it had about 235 million shares outstanding at the end of March."Today's action and yesterday's dividend increase reflect confidence in our performance and our belief that our share repurchase program continues to create value for our shareholders," said Northrop Chief Executive Wes Bush.Northrop on Wednesday increased its dividend by 11 percent to 61 cents per share.
Northrop Grumman Corporation (Northrop Grumman) provides products, services, and integrated solutions in aerospace, electronics, information and services to its global customers. Shares of NOC fell by 0.52% or $-0.41/share to $79.02. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $56.59 and as high as $79.48. On average, 1681500 shares of NOC exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1391393.
Source
