Wealthspire Advisors LLC Purchases 25 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,988 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 960.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 247.6% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 400.0% during the third quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $430,103.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,863,180.69. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total value of $322,239.42. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,317.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $430,103.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,863,180.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet cut Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Alembic Global Advisors raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $509.38.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock traded up $1.82 during trading on Thursday, hitting $473.43. 836,173 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,005,871. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $414.56 and a 1-year high of $496.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $465.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $465.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $1.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.31%.

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.