Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Has $1.25 Million Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,666 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 48 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. State of Wyoming raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 76.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 60 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. IMA Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 196.3% in the 2nd quarter. IMA Wealth Inc. now owns 80 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, West Tower Group LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter valued at $48,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NOC shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Wolfe Research downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $541.00 to $473.00 in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (down previously from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $494.33.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock traded up $1.91 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $479.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 310,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 941,379. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $457.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $461.20. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $414.56 and a one year high of $496.89. The company has a market capitalization of $71.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.15.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $1.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,784.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,421,784.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $573,321.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,761.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.