Richwood Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 112 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Richwood Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,993 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 112 shares during the quarter. Northrop Grumman makes up 1.3% of Richwood Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 960.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 247.6% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 400.0% during the third quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on NOC shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Alembic Global Advisors raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, TheStreet cut Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $514.33.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NOC traded up $2.79 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $474.69. The stock had a trading volume of 555,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 974,104. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $70.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $468.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $465.06. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $414.56 and a twelve month high of $496.89.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.50 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 24th. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 52.31%.

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.