Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Purchases 117 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,103 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at about $283,114,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 74.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $517,028,000 after buying an additional 502,060 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 10.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,975,754,000 after buying an additional 410,736 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at about $165,786,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 29.2% during the third 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 buying an additional 362,515 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $450.00 target price (down from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna dropped 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $497.23.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC opened at $470.98 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $414.56 and a one year high of $496.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $460.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $465.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.80 billion, a PE ratio of 34.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.80 by $0.47. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 23.07%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.50 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $1.87 per share. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 55.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were 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 owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were 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 owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $430,103.35. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,863,180.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.