Visionary Horizons LLC Makes New $610,000 Investment in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Visionary Horizons LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,191 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $610,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 291.7% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 94 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NOC. Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $545.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 319 shares in the company, valued at $156,310. The trade was a 75.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $3,793,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 201,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $101,964,243.54. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,340 shares of company stock valued at $6,183,378 over the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC traded up $20.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $517.22. 1,842,813 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 886,029. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.14. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $490.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $482.62.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. Equities analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $2.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio 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.