B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Trims Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,068 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 111 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 170 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 844 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 965 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 493 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renasant Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 743 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,225,917.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NOC traded down $2.41 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $484.32. The company had a trading volume of 1,454,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 976,665. The stock has a market cap of $70.83 billion, a PE ratio of 34.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.33. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $414.56 and a 1-year high of $496.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $441.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $455.34.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The company had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on NOC. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Alembic Global Advisors raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $516.29.

Northrop Grumman 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.