CoreCap Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,739 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 291.7% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 94 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on NOC. Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $545.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,127,632 over the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NOC opened at $482.80 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $498.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $487.33. The stock has a market cap of $69.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.15. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.27). Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.07 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

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.