Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Bought by National Pension Service

National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 309,635 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 9,047 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $144,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,975,754,000 after purchasing an additional 410,736 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,194,298 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,846,289,000 after purchasing an additional 142,036 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,244,324 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $547,739,000 after purchasing an additional 79,263 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 74.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $517,028,000 after buying an additional 502,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.5% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 867,137 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $381,705,000 after buying an additional 21,501 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. TheStreet downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $509.38.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock traded down $2.38 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $471.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 866,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,006,585. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $414.56 and a fifty-two week high of $496.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $465.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $465.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.34.

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 the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. The business had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $1.87 dividend. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 52.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,421,784.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total value of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,784.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147 over the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.