Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $244,000 Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 241.2% in the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 245.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter worth about $47,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total value of $663,330.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,879 shares of company stock valued at $1,410,703 in the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on NOC shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six 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 target price of $535.00.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.9 %

NOC stock opened at $531.43 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $520.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $478.08. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $418.60 and a 52-week high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.16 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 57.62%.

About Northrop Grumman

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.