GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 55,522.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,520,158 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,517,425 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned approximately 1.05% of Northrop Grumman worth $778,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 291.7% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 94 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. This represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 3,849 shares of company stock worth $1,831,461 in the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock traded up $2.38 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $485.76. 245,250 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 892,457. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $418.60 and a 52-week high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $492.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $482.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.15.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.27). Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.07 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is presently 36.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on NOC. UBS Group reduced their target price on Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $545.31.

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.