Bogart Wealth LLC Acquires 89 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 148.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 149 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 89 shares during the quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $70,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. London Co. of Virginia bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth $165,786,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 74.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,723 shares in the last quarter. Phraction Management LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth $677,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 2,801.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 330,499 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $154,720,000 after acquiring an additional 319,109 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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 report on Monday, April 22nd. TheStreet lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $509.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,784.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total value of $322,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $917,317.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC stock traded up $2.35 on Thursday, hitting $473.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 257,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 997,399. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $465.45 and its 200-day moving average is $465.24. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $414.56 and a fifty-two week high of $496.89. The company has a market capitalization of $70.14 billion, a PE ratio of 32.96, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.34.

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. The business had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $1.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 52.31%.

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.