Blue Trust Inc. Has $1.75 Million Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 13.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,420 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 291.7% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 94 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 729 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $368,706.33. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,552 shares in the company, valued at $3,819,575.04. This represents a 8.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $495.00, for a total value of $1,856,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 209,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,505,490. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,569 shares of company stock worth $8,322,279. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 1.9%

NYSE:NOC opened at $494.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 12-month low of $422.69 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $490.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $482.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.14.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.46% and a net margin of 9.19%. Equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus raised Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $424.00 to $521.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $548.33.

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.