Huntleigh Advisors Inc. Takes $2.82 Million Position in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Huntleigh Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,624 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,818,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Coign Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,294 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the third quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 1,127 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $687,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. West Wealth Group LLC now owns 412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,243 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $621,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 278 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $657.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $93.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.64, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.05. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a twelve month low of $426.24 and a twelve month high of $674.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $581.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $580.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.43 by $1.24. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 25.49%. The business had revenue of $10.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.00, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 191,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,835,230. This represents a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 97 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $564.08, for a total value of $54,715.76. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,414,826.48. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 10,097 shares of company stock valued at $6,099,716 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on NOC. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $662.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $770.00 to $777.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $700.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $630.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $656.82.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is a leading U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that designs, builds and sustains advanced systems, products and technologies for government and commercial customers. Formed through the combination of Northrop and Grumman businesses in the 1990s, the company’s portfolio spans manned and unmanned aircraft, space systems, missile defense, radar and sensor systems, and integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions.

The company’s work includes airframe and platform manufacturing, space hardware and satellite systems, advanced mission systems and cybersecurity services, as well as logistics, sustainment and modernization programs.