Consolidated Planning Corp Acquires Shares of 507 Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Consolidated Planning Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 507 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at $283,114,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 74.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $517,028,000 after purchasing an additional 502,060 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,975,754,000 after purchasing an additional 410,736 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at $165,786,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 29.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,605,679 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $706,804,000 after acquiring an additional 362,515 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC traded down $7.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $480.45. 1,371,947 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,120,454. The stock has a market cap of $71.20 billion, a PE ratio of 33.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $462.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $465.77. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $496.89.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.50 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

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 was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 52.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total value of $95,482.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. 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, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total value of $95,482.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total value of $322,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at $917,317.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Alembic Global Advisors raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. TheStreet lowered Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $503.00.

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.