Capital Advantage Inc. Purchases Shares of 5,202 Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Capital Advantage Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,202 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $2,441,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,866,133,000 after acquiring an additional 461,307 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in 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 during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 337.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 482,112 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $226,250,000 after purchasing an additional 371,814 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at $171,580,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,733,680 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $813,599,000 after buying an additional 343,018 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NOC. Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $540.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 target price on Northrop Grumman and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $545.31.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $493.23 on Tuesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The company has a market capitalization of $70.99 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $496.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $487.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. 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, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This trade represents a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,127,182. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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