Banco Santander S.A. Acquires Shares of 13,615 Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Banco Santander S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,615 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,190,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $474,276,000 after buying an additional 150,367 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 22.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 683,427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $297,937,000 after acquiring an additional 125,262 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.2% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 443,724 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $229,139,000 after acquiring an additional 5,203 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 357,466 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $188,767,000 after purchasing an additional 39,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 353,466 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $186,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC opened at $496.41 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $521.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $486.55. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.18 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 51.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.56.

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.