Icon Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,271 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 134 shares during the quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,340,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.2% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,081 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,952,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 328.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 60,574 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $28,995,000 after buying an additional 46,420 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 41.7% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 635 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 3,054 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $667,727. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NOC opened at $489.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $71.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.35, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $517.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $487.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The firm had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.18 EPS. Analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.56.

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.