San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 355 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC cut its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 32.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 741 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 355 shares during the quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 55,522.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,520,158 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $778,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517,425 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,866,133,000 after buying an additional 461,307 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,030,644 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $952,962,000 after acquiring an additional 450,858 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 337.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 482,112 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $226,250,000 after acquiring an additional 371,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth about $171,580,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $496.89 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $71.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $491.10 and a 200 day moving average of $482.58. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $422.19 and a 52 week high of $555.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.27). Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. The company had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.07 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $3,793,275.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 201,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,964,243.54. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $490.00, for a total transaction of $485,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,310. This trade represents a 75.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,569 shares of company stock valued at $8,322,279 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on NOC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 price target on Northrop Grumman and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $545.31.

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.