Whitener Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Whitener Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 33.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,119 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 550 shares during the quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NOC. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 121.0% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,640 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,400,000 after buying an additional 3,635 shares in the last quarter. GAM Holding AG lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 51.9% in the 1st quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 2,338 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,197,000 after buying an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,857 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $4,132,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 21,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth $284,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC stock traded up $6.22 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $520.82. The stock had a trading volume of 301,622 shares, compared to its average volume of 877,587. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $489.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $485.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 0.15. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52 week low of $426.24 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.

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

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $2.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on NOC. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and set a $542.00 target price (down previously from $580.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $550.00.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Robert J. Fleming sold 3,500 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $1,770,195.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $924,041.79. This trade represents a 65.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $490.00, for a total value of $485,590.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,310. The trade was a 75.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 16,569 shares of company stock worth $8,323,150. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

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.