Meridian Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,743 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,089,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 245.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 report on Monday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $550.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was 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 $286,183.41. This trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE NOC opened at $496.52 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $521.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $486.55. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.35. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.18 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.05%.

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.