Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Bought by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,871 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,090 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $8,366,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Finally, Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $72,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $485.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 171,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 993,600. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $414.56 and a 1 year high of $496.89. The firm has a market cap of $71.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $463.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $465.78.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.50 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $509.38.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,784.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Northrop Grumman news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,784.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $430,103.35. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,863,180.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders 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 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.