QRG Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

QRG Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,982 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 422 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $4,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 281.5% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 103 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at $52,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $512.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.78, a PEG ratio of 1.02 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $523.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $484.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.18 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.56.

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.