Waverly Advisors LLC Acquires 617 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 101.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,228 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 617 shares during the quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of NOC. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 973 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 176.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,970 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,394,000 after acquiring an additional 1,895 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,594 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 434 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 789 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 price target on Northrop Grumman and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $540.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Northrop Grumman from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $545.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 3,849 shares of company stock worth $1,831,461 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NYSE NOC traded up $0.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $479.74. 159,288 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 900,297. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $493.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $483.14. The company has a market cap of $69.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.15. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. 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.