Nvest Financial LLC Has $461,000 Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Nvest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 6.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 964 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the quarter. Nvest Financial LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cullinan Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 115.5% during the first quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 7,507 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,593,000 after buying an additional 4,024 shares in the last quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.4% during the first quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 7,975 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,817,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the first quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,009 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Talbot Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.3% during the first quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 24,398 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,678,000 after buying an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the first quarter valued at about $1,063,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $510.36.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC traded up $2.37 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $437.37. 503,932 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 991,752. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $414.56 and a 1-year high of $496.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $455.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $458.91. The firm has a market cap of $64.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.33.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. The company had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.50 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 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.