Townsquare Capital LLC Acquires 140 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,530 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sapient Capital LLC raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 2,049 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,006 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 900 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $933,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 432 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $529.43 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $76.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $484.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $491.76.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.08%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares in the company, valued at $304,217.72. This represents a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,127,182. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $500.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $543.65.

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.