Stevens Capital Management LP Purchases New Position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Key Points

• Stevens Capital Management LP has acquired 858 shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation for approximately $439,000 in the first quarter.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Northrop Grumman, with Royal Bank of Canada increasing their target to $625.00 and Bank of America to $650.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Northrop Grumman also announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $2.31 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $9.24 and a yield of 1.62%.

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 858 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $439,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 644 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.5% during 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 lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 8.4% during 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 lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during 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, Wealth Alliance LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 2,094 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on NOC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $547.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $480.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $586.79.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Robert J. Fleming sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $1,770,195.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at $924,041.79. The trade was a 65.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 201,602 shares in the company, 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 valued at $8,323,150. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE NOC traded down $0.79 on Wednesday, hitting $572.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 147,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,013,618. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52-week low of $426.24 and a 52-week high of $576.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $505.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $492.27. The firm has a market cap of $81.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 0.15.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.84 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $10.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.15 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.52% and a net margin of 9.74%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.36 EPS. Research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $2.31 dividend. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.06%.

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.