Studio Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,361 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Studio Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 241.2% in the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the company’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 $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,846 shares of company stock worth $1,393,028 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NOC. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, June 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, UBS Group boosted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $523.20.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.8 %

NOC opened at $519.90 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $481.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $466.36. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $414.56 and a 52 week high of $528.76. The firm has a market cap of $76.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.36, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio 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.