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

Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 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 NOC. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its stake 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 245.5% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the company’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 completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the 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 $3,225,917.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,879 shares of company stock valued at $1,410,703 over the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $535.00.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $531.43 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $520.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $478.08. The firm has a market cap 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year 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.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.