Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) Shares Purchased by River Street Advisors LLC

River Street Advisors LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 90.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,164 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 1,503 shares during the quarter. River Street Advisors LLC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,677,781 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $5,949,556,000 after buying an additional 56,807 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,866,133,000 after purchasing an additional 461,307 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,164,700 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,954,452,000 after purchasing an additional 23,808 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,025,263 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,417,850,000 after purchasing an additional 21,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,807,223 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,317,402,000 after purchasing an additional 109,308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $3,793,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 201,602 shares in the company, valued at $101,964,243.54. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $485,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,569 shares of company stock worth $8,322,279 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NOC. Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. 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. Truist Financial cut their target price 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Eight equities 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 MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $548.33.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $494.16 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52 week low of $422.69 and a 52 week high of $555.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $71.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $490.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $482.87.

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 the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.27). Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.46% and a net margin of 9.19%. The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.07 billion. Analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given 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 yield of 1.87%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio is 36.46%.

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.

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