Moors & Cabot Inc. Boosts Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 6.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,502 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 321 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,399,000 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. Excalibur Management Corp grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 23.3% in the 2nd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 529 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 22,326 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $9,733,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $21,492,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 138.1% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 5,601 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,442,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 193.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 17,725 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,727,000 after buying an additional 11,679 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $521.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.11 billion, a PE ratio of 36.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $528.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $490.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $468.51.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.62%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 available at the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,846 shares of company stock worth $1,393,028. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NOC. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, June 21st. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $523.20.

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.