Croban Invests $1.11 Million in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Croban bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,166 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $1,109,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,677,781 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $5,949,556,000 after acquiring an additional 56,807 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,866,133,000 after purchasing an additional 461,307 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,164,700 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,954,452,000 after purchasing an additional 23,808 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.7% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,807,223 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,317,402,000 after purchasing an additional 109,308 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NOC shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $550.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $490.00, for a total value of $485,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $156,310. This trade represents a 75.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 729 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $368,706.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 7,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,819,575.04. This trade represents a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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 company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC traded up $0.78 during trading on Friday, reaching $514.65. 748,906 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 879,009. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $426.24 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $488.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $485.25. The company has a market cap of $74.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 6.10 and a beta of 0.15.

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). Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.19% and a return on equity of 25.46%. The company had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.07 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

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