Greenleaf Trust Grows Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,437 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 25.9% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 443 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 79.2% in the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 181 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,608 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $18,959,000 after purchasing an additional 5,184 shares during the period. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $947,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,225,917.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,879 shares of company stock worth $1,410,703 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NOC shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen raised Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $535.00.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $516.40 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $522.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $480.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $418.60 and a 52-week high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.34 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

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.