Clearstead Trust LLC Makes New $132,000 Investment in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 281 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $132,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 960.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 247.6% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 400.0% in the third quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NOC. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $509.38.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In related news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total value of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total transaction of $322,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $917,317.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total value of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,784.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 1.2 %

NOC stock traded down $5.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $469.09. The company had a trading volume of 1,443,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,144,324. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $464.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $465.47. The company has a market capitalization of $69.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $414.56 and a fifty-two week high of $496.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.50 EPS. Analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $1.87 dividend. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.31%.

Northrop Grumman 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.