Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Grows Position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,866 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,866,133,000 after buying an additional 461,307 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,807,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,317,402,000 after buying an additional 109,308 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,030,644 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $952,962,000 after buying an additional 450,858 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,733,680 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $813,599,000 after buying an additional 343,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 55,522.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,520,158 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $778,336,000 after buying an additional 1,517,425 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $576.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $82.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.26, a P/E/G ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.15. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $426.24 and a fifty-two week high of $577.38. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $509.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $493.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.84 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.15 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.52% and a net margin of 9.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $2.31 per share. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.06%.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 729 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $368,706.33. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 7,552 shares in the company, valued at $3,819,575.04. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Fleming sold 3,500 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $1,770,195.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 1,827 shares in the company, valued at $924,041.79. This represents a 65.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,569 shares of company stock valued at $8,323,150. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NOC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $542.00 price objective (down from $580.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $480.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $586.79.

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.