Pinion Investment Advisors LLC Has $547,000 Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Pinion Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,068 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 54 shares during the quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 291.7% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 94 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on NOC. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $545.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $490.00, for a total value of $485,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,310. This trade represents a 75.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $3,793,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 201,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,964,243.54. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,340 shares of company stock worth $6,183,378. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $517.22 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $422.19 and a 52-week high of $555.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $490.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $482.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $74.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.14.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. On average, research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $2.31 dividend. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.46%.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.