1,000 Shares in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Acquired by Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC

Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $468,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth approximately $283,114,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 74.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $517,028,000 after acquiring an additional 502,060 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 10.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,975,754,000 after acquiring an additional 410,736 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $165,786,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 29.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,605,679 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $706,804,000 after buying an additional 362,515 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday. TheStreet cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $503.00.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE NOC opened at $480.45 on Monday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $496.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $462.59 and a 200-day moving average of $465.72. 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 company has a market cap of $71.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS 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 company had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $1.87 per share. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total transaction of $322,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,317.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total value of $95,482.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,421,784.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.