Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Acquired by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,425 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 159 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NOC. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,623,128,000 after buying an additional 621,636 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1,915.9% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 438,521 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $191,173,000 after purchasing an additional 416,768 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,218,132,000 after purchasing an additional 211,459 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at about $90,177,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,490 shares of company stock worth $747,372 in the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $547.44.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $519.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $523.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $481.03.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.18 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.79%.

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.