Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. Decreases Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,786 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 366 shares during the quarter. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NOC. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $283,114,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 74.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $517,028,000 after buying an additional 502,060 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,975,754,000 after acquiring an additional 410,736 shares in the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at about $165,786,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 29.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,605,679 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $706,804,000 after acquiring an additional 362,515 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $430,103.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,863,180.69. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total value of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,784.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC traded down $1.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $484.84. 525,101 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 996,876. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $496.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $463.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $465.78.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 52.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Alembic Global Advisors raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $509.38.

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.