Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) Shares Acquired by FourThought Financial Partners LLC

Key Points

• FourThought Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 7.4%, purchasing an additional 1,677 shares, bringing its total ownership to 24,426 shares valued at approximately $12.5 million.
• Insider transactions were reported with VP Thomas H. Jones selling 729 shares and VP Roshan S. Roeder selling 991 shares, resulting in significant decreases in their holdings of 8.80% and 75.65% respectively.
• Northrop Grumman's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $7.11, surpassing analysts' expectations, with a quarterly revenue growth of 1.3% from the previous year.

FourThought Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,426 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 1,677 shares during the period. Northrop Grumman makes up approximately 1.3% of FourThought Financial Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. FourThought Financial Partners LLC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $12,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 55,522.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,520,158 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $778,336,000 after buying an additional 1,517,425 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during 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 period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 28.5% during 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 period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 337.1% during 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 period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 24.7% during 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 period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NOC. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group cut 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $542.00 price target (down from $580.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Susquehanna set a $540.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Ten equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $569.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Robert J. Fleming sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $1,770,195.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at $924,041.79. This represents a 65.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. 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 company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.2%

NOC traded up $1.04 on Friday, reaching $569.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 635,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 759,941. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $501.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $490.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $81.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.15. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $426.24 and a fifty-two week high of $576.86.

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

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio is 34.06%.

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.