Bleakley Financial Group LLC Grows Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 6.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,778 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 503 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $4,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 960.0% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 247.6% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on NOC. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $510.36.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC stock traded up $5.01 on Wednesday, reaching $440.17. 1,140,113 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 969,974. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $445.27 and a 200-day moving average of $456.52. The firm has a market cap of $65.14 billion, a PE ratio of 30.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $414.56 and a twelve month high of $496.89.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.62%.

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.