Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $60.96 Million Holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 167.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 98,071 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,376 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $60,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coign Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,294 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $647,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the third quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 1,127 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 4.3% in the third quarter. West Wealth Group LLC now owns 412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,243 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $621,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 278 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $630.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $654.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $700.00 target price on Northrop Grumman and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $710.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $727.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.82.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:NOC traded down $2.59 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $664.31. 63,513 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,249,393. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a one year low of $426.24 and a one year high of $674.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $94.81 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $579.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $579.07.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.43 by $1.24. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 25.49%. The company had revenue of $10.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 33.24%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $4,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 194,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,761,200. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 97 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $564.08, for a total value of $54,715.76. Following the sale, the director owned 4,281 shares in the company, valued at $2,414,826.48. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,097 shares of company stock valued at $6,099,716. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is a leading U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that designs, builds and sustains advanced systems, products and technologies for government and commercial customers. Formed through the combination of Northrop and Grumman businesses in the 1990s, the company’s portfolio spans manned and unmanned aircraft, space systems, missile defense, radar and sensor systems, and integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions.

The company’s work includes airframe and platform manufacturing, space hardware and satellite systems, advanced mission systems and cybersecurity services, as well as logistics, sustainment and modernization programs.