West Family Investments Inc. Acquires 97 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

West Family Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 8.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,207 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 97 shares during the quarter. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter worth $52,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $491.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $522.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $486.29.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.18 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NOC shares. TD Cowen upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $550.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.