Sound Income Strategies LLC Buys 91 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 25.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 443 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth $283,114,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 10.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,975,754,000 after purchasing an additional 410,736 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth $165,786,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2,801.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 330,499 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $154,720,000 after purchasing an additional 319,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth $97,866,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $510.36.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC traded up $3.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $431.50. 779,459 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 997,119. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $457.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $460.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $414.56 and a twelve month high of $496.89.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.50 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.62%.

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.