Brighton Jones LLC Buys 30 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,071 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 245.5% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased 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 in the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total value of $663,330.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,846 shares of company stock valued at $1,393,028 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC opened at $525.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $496.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $469.78. The stock has a market cap of $77.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $414.56 and a one year high of $528.76.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NOC. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $523.20.

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.