Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Purchased by Strategic Planning Group LLC

Strategic Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 23.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,596 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Strategic Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,679,000 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. London Co. of Virginia acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth about $165,786,000. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1,402.9% during the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 12,925 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,186,000 after buying an additional 12,065 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 7,574.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 123,637 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $57,879,000 after buying an additional 122,026 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 16,515 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,731,000 after buying an additional 2,723 shares during the period. Finally, Red Mountain Financial LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth about $264,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on NOC. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $506.15.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.1 %

NOC stock opened at $430.95 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $457.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $460.43. The stock has a market cap of $63.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.12, a PEG ratio of 2.02 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. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The firm had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.50 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

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

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.