Millburn Ridgefield LLC DE Purchases New Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Millburn Ridgefield LLC DE purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 555 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NOC. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,857 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $4,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,025,263 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,417,850,000 after acquiring an additional 21,903 shares during the last quarter. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at $284,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 74.4% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 156,149 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $73,279,000 after acquiring an additional 66,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bay Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at $363,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 price objective on Northrop Grumman and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus raised Northrop Grumman to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $545.31.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 4.0%

NOC traded up $20.09 on Friday, hitting $517.22. The company had a trading volume of 1,842,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 886,029. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $418.60 and a 52-week high of $555.57. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $490.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $482.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.14.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued 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). 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.07 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $2.31 per share. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is presently 36.46%.

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 that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $490.00, for a total transaction of $485,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 319 shares of the company's stock, valued at $156,310. This trade represents a 75.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $495.00, for a total transaction of $1,856,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,102 shares of the company's stock, valued at $103,505,490. This trade represents a 1.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,340 shares of company stock worth $6,183,378. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.