Davis R M Inc. Lowers Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Davis R M Inc. lessened its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 61,527 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 871 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $32,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 245.5% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NOC. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup boosted 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $496.87 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $520.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $486.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.