Independent Advisor Alliance Buys 69 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 1.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,009 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NOC. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 55,522.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,520,158 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $778,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517,425 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the first quarter worth $369,205,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,266,301 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,792,479,000 after purchasing an additional 588,520 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,866,133,000 after purchasing an additional 461,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $952,962,000 after purchasing an additional 450,858 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $3,793,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 201,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,964,243.54. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Fleming sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $1,770,195.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $924,041.79. This represents a 65.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,536 shares of company stock valued at $8,306,857 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.1%

NOC stock opened at $580.42 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $524.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $498.42. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52 week low of $426.24 and a 52 week high of $594.68. The company has a market capitalization of $83.10 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.51 and a beta of 0.15.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.84 by $0.27. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 25.52%. The business had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.36 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 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 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $2.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 34.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $547.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $542.00 price target (down from $580.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $586.79.

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.