Valley National Advisers Inc. Purchases 249 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 51.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 734 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 960.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 247.6% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NOC. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $510.36.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $437.03 on Thursday. 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 cap of $64.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $454.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $458.74. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $414.56 and a one year high of $496.89.

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

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. 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.