Trek Financial LLC Takes Position in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Trek Financial LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,956 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,848,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coign Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the second quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,294 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $647,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the third quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 1,127 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $687,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 4.3% during the third quarter. West Wealth Group LLC now owns 412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,243 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $621,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 278 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 97 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $564.08, for a total value of $54,715.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,414,826.48. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $615.00, for a total value of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 191,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,835,230. The trade was a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 10,097 shares of company stock valued at $6,099,716 over the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.3%

NOC stock traded up $2.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $672.67. 597,614 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 951,127. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20, a P/E/G ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $587.92 and a 200-day moving average of $582.49. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52-week low of $426.24 and a 52-week high of $677.30.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.43 by $1.24. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.49% and a net margin of 9.82%.The company had revenue of $10.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.00 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $2.31 per share. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 33.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NOC shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $714.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $700.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $770.00 to $777.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $654.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $662.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, December 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $656.82.

Northrop Grumman Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is a leading U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that designs, builds and sustains advanced systems, products and technologies for government and commercial customers. Formed through the combination of Northrop and Grumman businesses in the 1990s, the company’s portfolio spans manned and unmanned aircraft, space systems, missile defense, radar and sensor systems, and integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions.

The company’s work includes airframe and platform manufacturing, space hardware and satellite systems, advanced mission systems and cybersecurity services, as well as logistics, sustainment and modernization programs.