Apollon Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 112.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,566 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,950 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 960.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 247.6% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NOC. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. TheStreet downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $509.38.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:NOC traded up $4.67 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $473.53. 734,284 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,009,010. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.79, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $414.56 and a 52 week high of $496.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $465.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $465.32.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $1.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 52.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $573,321.01. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total value of $322,239.42. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,317.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $573,321.01. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,761.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.