Captrust Financial Advisors Buys 69 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,899 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $10,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 241.2% in the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 245.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $667,727 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NOC opened at $489.65 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $71.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $517.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $487.46. 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 earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.18 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 51.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on NOC. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $550.56.

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.