Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Bought by Procyon Advisors LLC

Procyon Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,800 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 70,532.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 637,105 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $347,611,000 after acquiring an additional 636,203 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 74.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $517,028,000 after acquiring an additional 502,060 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.1% in the third 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 during the period. London Co. of Virginia acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at $165,786,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 29.2% in 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 buying an additional 362,515 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:NOC traded up $2.21 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $479.57. 46,072 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 937,225. The firm has a market cap of $71.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $414.56 and a twelve month high of $496.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $457.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $461.20.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on NOC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $541.00 to $473.00 in a report on Friday, December 15th. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Northrop Grumman from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 14th. One equities 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $494.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $573,321.01. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $430,103.35. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,863,180.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.