Good Life Advisors LLC Has $1.21 Million Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Good Life Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,581 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 170 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,975,754,000 after buying an additional 410,736 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 3.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,194,298 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,846,289,000 after buying an additional 142,036 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 29.2% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,605,679 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $706,804,000 after purchasing an additional 362,515 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 30.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,567,612 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $723,799,000 after purchasing an additional 362,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 6.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,244,324 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $547,739,000 after acquiring an additional 79,263 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $541.00 to $473.00 in a report on Friday, December 15th. Wolfe Research lowered Northrop Grumman from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target (down from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $494.33.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC traded up $1.30 during trading on Thursday, hitting $478.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 550,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 945,777. The company has a market capitalization of $71.82 billion, a PE ratio of 35.54, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $457.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $461.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.15. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $414.56 and a fifty-two week high of $496.89.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.47. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 23.07% and a net margin of 5.23%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $1.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 55.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $430,103.35. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,863,180.69. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $430,103.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,863,180.69. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,784.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147. Insiders own 0.26% 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.