Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 5,184 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 15.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,608 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 5,184 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $18,959,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 960.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in 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 last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the first quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Alembic Global Advisors raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, June 21st. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $510.36.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.3 %

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $436.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.55 billion, a PE ratio of 30.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $496.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $456.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $459.90.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.50 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 57.62%.

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.