L & S Advisors Inc Purchases New Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

L & S Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 20,640 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,899,000. Northrop Grumman makes up about 1.1% of L & S Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the third quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,141 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.0% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,025 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.4% during the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $780,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PBMares Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the third quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,421 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, 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 this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $491.98 on Thursday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $521.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $486.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $71.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.35.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.18 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on NOC. Barclays raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.