Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Purchases 182 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 13.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,540 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 960.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 247.6% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $435.95 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $414.56 and a 1 year high of $496.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $64.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $456.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $459.29.

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

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 57.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on NOC. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $510.36.

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.