Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) Shares Bought by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 9.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,660 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,547 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $14,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 644 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. IAG Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 271 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,006 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Keel Point LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 1,069 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $540.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $550.00.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock traded down $1.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $519.99. The company had a trading volume of 102,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 876,380. The company's 50-day moving average is $489.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $486.10. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a twelve month low of $426.24 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $74.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 0.15.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.27). Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.19% and a return on equity of 25.46%. The company had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.07 billion. Analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business 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. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.46%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owned 319 shares in the company, valued at $156,310. This represents a 75.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 201,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $101,964,243.54. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,569 shares of company stock worth $8,323,150. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

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.