71 Shares in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Bought by Bellwether Advisors LLC

Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 71 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NOC. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,866,133,000 after buying an additional 461,307 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,030,644 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $952,962,000 after buying an additional 450,858 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 337.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 482,112 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $226,250,000 after buying an additional 371,814 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth $171,580,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,733,680 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $813,599,000 after buying an additional 343,018 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. The trade was 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. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC opened at $484.09 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $492.65 and its 200 day moving average is $489.38. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.08, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.27). Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. The company had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.07 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 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 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 price objective on Northrop Grumman and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $545.31.

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.