Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 2,219 Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC has acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman Corporation valued at approximately $1.14 million, buying 2,219 shares in the 1st quarter.
• Several brokerages have raised their price targets for Northrop Grumman, with Morgan Stanley adjusting their target from $580 to $625, and JPMorgan Chase increasing it from $480 to $585.
• Northrop Grumman reported a quarterly earnings per share of $7.11, surpassing analysts' expectations, along with a 1.3% year-over-year revenue increase to $10.35 billion.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,219 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $1,136,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 121.0% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,640 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,400,000 after purchasing an additional 3,635 shares during the last quarter. GAM Holding AG raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 51.9% in the first quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 2,338 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,197,000 after buying an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,857 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,025,263 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,417,850,000 after purchasing an additional 21,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth $284,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $3,793,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 201,602 shares in the company, valued at $101,964,243.54. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $490.00, for a total transaction of $485,590.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $156,310. This trade represents a 75.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,569 shares of company stock valued at $8,323,150. Insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC stock traded down $1.42 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $571.80. 191,552 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,013,948. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $505.23 and a 200 day moving average of $492.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52-week low of $426.24 and a 52-week high of $576.86. The company has a market cap of $81.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 0.15.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.84 by $0.27. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 25.52%. The business had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.36 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $2.31 per share. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on NOC. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $586.79.

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.