Wealth Alliance Has $984,000 Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Wealth Alliance increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,102 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 59.4% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,305,000 after purchasing an additional 2,753 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 41.4% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,514,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 21.6% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 11.0% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,890 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $845,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $450.00 target price (down from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $494.33.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NOC opened at $450.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $66.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.40, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.15. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $414.56 and a fifty-two week high of $496.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $459.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $464.29.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.47. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 23.07%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $1.87 dividend. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 55.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total transaction of $322,239.42. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at $917,317.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.