Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC Has $1.63 Million Holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC decreased its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 53.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,182 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 3,604 shares during the period. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Leavell Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 1st quarter valued at about $209,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 61.4% in the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,001 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,202 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,151,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. TradeWell Securities LLC. acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 1st quarter valued at about $204,000. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,545 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $540.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and set a $542.00 price objective (down from $580.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $550.00.

Insider Activity

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $490.00, for a total transaction of $485,590.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $156,310. The trade was a 75.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 729 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $368,706.33. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 7,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,819,575.04. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,569 shares of company stock valued at $8,323,150. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC traded up $0.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $514.65. 748,906 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 879,759. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52 week low of $426.24 and a 52 week high of $555.57. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $489.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $485.66. The firm has a market cap of $74.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.19% and a return on equity of 25.46%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.46%.

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.