Bleakley Financial Group LLC Has $3.87 Million Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,275 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 933 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NOC. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 70,532.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 637,105 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $347,611,000 after acquiring an additional 636,203 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $283,114,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 74.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $517,028,000 after acquiring an additional 502,060 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,975,754,000 after acquiring an additional 410,736 shares during the period. Finally, London Co. of Virginia bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $165,786,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC opened at $456.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $67.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.87, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $414.56 and a 1-year high of $496.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $458.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $463.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.43 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 23.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $1.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 55.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,761.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $917,317.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $450.00 target price (down from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $494.33.

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.