Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,361 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $10,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,677,781 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,949,556,000 after acquiring an additional 56,807 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,866,133,000 after purchasing an additional 461,307 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,164,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,954,452,000 after purchasing an additional 23,808 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,025,263 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,417,850,000 after purchasing an additional 21,903 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,807,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,317,402,000 after purchasing an additional 109,308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $3,793,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 201,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,964,243.54. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $368,706.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,552 shares in the company, valued at $3,819,575.04. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 16,569 shares of company stock valued at $8,322,279. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on NOC. Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 price objective on Northrop Grumman and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.43.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $487.45 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1 year low of $422.69 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The company has a market cap of $70.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $486.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $483.17.

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

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $2.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.46%.

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.