Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Makes New Investment in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 491 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 1st quarter worth $891,000. Paragon Capital Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 1st quarter worth $439,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 4,873 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,495,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the period. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 476 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Neumann Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the first quarter valued at about $308,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 4.0%

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $517.22 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $490.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $482.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The stock has a market cap of $74.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.14.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.27). Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. The business had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.07 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $2.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NOC. Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 price objective on Northrop Grumman and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $545.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $490.00, for a total value of $485,590.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,310. This represents a 75.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $495.00, for a total value of $1,856,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,102 shares in the company, valued at $103,505,490. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,340 shares of company stock valued at $6,183,378. Company insiders own 0.23% 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.