Malaga Cove Capital LLC Purchases 382 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Malaga Cove Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 78.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 869 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NOC. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 176.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,970 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,394,000 after acquiring an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,006 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,610 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at $238,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $368,706.33. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 7,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,819,575.04. This trade represents a 8.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 201,602 shares in the company, valued at $101,964,243.54. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,569 shares of company stock valued at $8,323,150. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $542.00 price target (down from $580.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $586.79.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE:NOC opened at $587.13 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1-year low of $426.24 and a 1-year high of $587.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $511.60 and a 200 day moving average of $494.32. The firm has a market cap of $84.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released 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. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 25.52%. The company had revenue of $10.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

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

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.