Calamos Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Calamos Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 58.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 483 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 689 shares during the quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 3.0% in the first quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 644 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 271 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,006 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Keel Point LLC grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 1,069 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $3,793,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 201,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $101,964,243.54. The trade was a 3.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $490.00, for a total value of $485,590.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 319 shares of the company's stock, valued at $156,310. The trade was a 75.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,569 shares of company stock worth $8,322,279. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on NOC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Northrop Grumman from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. 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 objective on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $552.54.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock traded up $4.50 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $503.40. 381,831 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 880,004. The firm has a market cap of $72.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 5.51 and a beta of 0.15. The stock's fifty day moving average is $486.97 and its 200 day moving average is $484.13. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1 year low of $422.69 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current 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 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 analysts' expectations of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.19% and a return on equity of 25.46%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $2.31 per share. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is currently 36.46%.

Northrop Grumman 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.