Huntleigh Advisors Inc. Makes New $2.82 Million Investment in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

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

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 176.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,970 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,394,000 after acquiring an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 641 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 367.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,516 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,978 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 25.7% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 666 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 14.8% during the second quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 519 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on NOC shares. BTIG Research raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $630.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $727.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $654.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 191,602 shares in the company, valued at $117,835,230. This represents a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 97 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $564.08, for a total transaction of $54,715.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,414,826.48. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 10,097 shares of company stock worth $6,099,716 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $657.09 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $581.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $580.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.11. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1 year low of $426.24 and a 1 year high of $674.75. The company has a market capitalization of $93.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.05.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

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

About Northrop Grumman

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.