Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Brookstone Capital Management

Brookstone Capital Management lessened its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,823 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 45 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 13.6% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,724 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 117.4% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,237 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.5% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,154 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $949,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 30.7% during the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 5,062 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 385.8% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 14,524 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,393,000 after buying an additional 11,534 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $510.36.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $435.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $414.56 and a 12-month high of $496.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $456.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $459.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 57.62%.

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.