Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Compass Ion Advisors LLC

Compass Ion Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 7.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 750 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Compass Ion Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,975,754,000 after acquiring an additional 410,736 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 3.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,194,298 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,846,289,000 after buying an additional 142,036 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 2,271,466 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,063,364,000 after buying an additional 80,887 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,260,599 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $590,137,000 after buying an additional 16,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 1,156,477 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $541,393,000 after buying an additional 28,934 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $435.00 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $64.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.33. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $414.56 and a 52-week high of $496.89. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $456.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $459.11.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $10.13 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on NOC shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $510.36.

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.