Southland Equity Partners LLC Invests $470,000 in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Southland Equity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 982 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. London Co. of Virginia bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $165,786,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 7,574.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 123,637 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $57,879,000 after purchasing an additional 122,026 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 16,515 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,723 shares during the period. Red Mountain Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at $264,000. Finally, Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 116,442 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $54,511,000 after purchasing an additional 6,898 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on NOC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $506.15.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC stock traded down $1.42 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $430.67. 1,040,855 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,000,939. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $414.56 and a 52 week high of $496.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $458.20 and its 200-day moving average is $460.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $63.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 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.