Walden Wealth Partners LLC Buys New Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Walden Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 598 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 960.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 247.6% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 400.0% in the third quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NOC traded up $5.69 on Monday, reaching $429.78. 962,463 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 993,875. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $460.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $462.48. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $496.89.

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

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on NOC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $514.33.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.