Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Acquired by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,317 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Capital International Investors raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,623,128,000 after acquiring an additional 621,636 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth $283,114,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 2,801.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 330,499 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $154,720,000 after acquiring an additional 319,109 shares in the last quarter. Focused Investors Fund L P purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the first quarter worth $108,369,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.8% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,218,132,000 after acquiring an additional 211,459 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on NOC. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $440.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $517.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total value of $663,330.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:NOC traded down $2.73 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $477.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 877,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 974,955. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $441.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $455.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $414.56 and a twelve month high of $496.89. The stock has a market cap of $69.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.33.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.1 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.62%.

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.