Western Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,172 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Western Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 37.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,979 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,172 shares during the quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 291.7% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 94 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total value of $213,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $112,883.75. The trade was a 65.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,313 shares of company stock worth $2,045,249 over the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Argus upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $545.31.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.2%

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $473.07 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $495.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $484.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The stock has a market cap of $68.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.15.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.27). Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. The business had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.07 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

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.