Alaethes Wealth LLC Purchases 90 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Alaethes Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 90 shares during the quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 241.2% in the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 245.5% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $525.13 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $77.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $414.56 and a 1-year high of $528.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $496.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $469.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.34 EPS. Research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, June 21st. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $523.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total value of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares in the company, valued at $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,846 shares of company stock worth $1,393,028. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.