Wedmont Private Capital Lowers Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Wedmont Private Capital decreased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 21.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 959 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 256 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.2% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 1,782 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $784,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 524 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 844 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. now owns 727 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 493 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NOC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 in a report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $506.15.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:NOC opened at $432.41 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 firm has a market capitalization of $63.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $414.56 and a one year high of $496.89. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $458.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $461.01.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. The firm 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%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.