Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 5.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,773 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,763,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NOC. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 13.6% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,724 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $757,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 117.4% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,237 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,154 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $949,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 5,062 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,228,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188 shares during the period. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 385.8% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 14,524 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,393,000 after purchasing an additional 11,534 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.2 %

NOC stock traded up $1.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $435.95. 1,103,091 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,069,240. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of $456.07 and a 200-day moving average of $459.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.52 billion, a PE ratio of 30.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 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.

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

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $510.36.

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.