Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 41.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 635 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 187 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1,402.9% during the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 12,925 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,186,000 after buying an additional 12,065 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter valued at $870,000. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter worth $778,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 7,574.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 123,637 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $57,879,000 after purchasing an additional 122,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Mountain Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at $264,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $480.30 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $441.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $455.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $414.56 and a 52 week high of $496.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $71.08 billion, a PE ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.33.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 57.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on NOC. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $515.07.

Northrop Grumman 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.