Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by AdvisorNet Financial Inc

AdvisorNet Financial Inc trimmed its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,881 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 523 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 16,660 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $7,818,000 after acquiring an additional 2,770 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 12.8% during 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 lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.7% during 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 purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth $284,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 74.4% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 156,149 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $73,279,000 after acquiring an additional 66,638 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on NOC. Wall Street Zen lowered Northrop Grumman from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research raised Northrop Grumman from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $545.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,849 shares of company stock worth $1,831,461. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock traded up $2.38 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $485.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 245,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 892,457. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The company has a market capitalization of $69.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.15. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $492.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $482.36.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $2.31 per share. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. 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.