Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Position Raised by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 232.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,826 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,126 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $22,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NOC. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 48,367 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $22,698,000 after buying an additional 1,786 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $112,222,000 after purchasing an additional 5,334 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviso Wealth Management raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 110.7% during the 2nd quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,896 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 996 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $587.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.94.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $502.03 on Thursday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $478.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $495.31. The firm has a market cap of $73.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 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, topping the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.18 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio 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.