Alera Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Alera Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 448 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.8% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,218,132,000 after acquiring an additional 211,459 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 2,271,466 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,063,364,000 after acquiring an additional 80,887 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,260,599 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $590,137,000 after acquiring an additional 16,275 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 1,156,477 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $541,393,000 after buying an additional 28,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 789,096 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $369,407,000 after buying an additional 21,653 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock traded down $1.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $437.94. 720,019 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 781,277. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $443.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $455.98. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $496.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $64.81 billion, a PE ratio of 30.63, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.33.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. The firm had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.50 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NOC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $510.36.

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.