Wealth Alliance Buys 138 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Wealth Alliance increased its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,102 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at $29,000. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 60 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. IMA Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 196.3% in the second quarter. IMA Wealth Inc. now owns 80 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 400.0% in the third quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 19.1% in the third quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $573,321.01. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the company’s 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 $573,321.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $430,103.35. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,863,180.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $450.21 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $459.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $464.29. The firm has a market cap of $66.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $414.56 and a 52 week high of $496.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.43 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 23.07% and a net margin of 5.23%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $1.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on NOC shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price (down from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $494.33.

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.