Larson Financial Group LLC Buys 252 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 121.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 460 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. Aviso Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 110.7% in the 2nd quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,896 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $827,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna International Securities Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,133,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 133.9% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,248 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $980,000 after acquiring an additional 1,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 40.8% in the 3rd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 3,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NOC. Barclays boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. TD Cowen upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $489.20 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $71.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.31, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $518.57 and its 200 day moving average is $487.14. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.18 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.05%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $667,727. 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.