Dakota Wealth Management Grows Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Dakota Wealth Management lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,752 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $4,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 452.6% during the 2nd quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 5,918 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,580,000 after buying an additional 4,847 shares during the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 98,773 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $43,060,000 after buying an additional 2,508 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,017,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,804 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,530,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $465,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total value of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $521.33.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE NOC traded up $0.95 on Tuesday, hitting $505.82. 154,135 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 951,599. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $454.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $459.05. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $414.56 and a fifty-two week high of $508.47. The firm has a market cap of $74.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.32.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.18 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman 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.