Financial Counselors Inc. Grows Position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Financial Counselors Inc. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,157 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,007 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. owned 0.05% of Northrop Grumman worth $36,945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 55,522.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,520,158 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $778,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517,425 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 5.9% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings 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 boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 337.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 482,112 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $226,250,000 after purchasing an additional 371,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,733,680 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $813,599,000 after purchasing an additional 343,018 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

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

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC stock traded up $2.86 on Wednesday, hitting $507.71. 608,928 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 879,432. The firm has a market cap of $73.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.15. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52 week low of $422.69 and a 52 week high of $555.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $488.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $484.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

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 the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion for 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $2.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This is an increase 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 1.82%. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is 36.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on NOC shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $424.00 to $521.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Northrop Grumman from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $540.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $550.00.

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.