Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 6.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,937 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,623,128,000 after buying an additional 621,636 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 4.8% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,218,132,000 after acquiring an additional 211,459 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,688,511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,765,543,000 after purchasing an additional 23,398 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 16.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 150,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 683,427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $297,937,000 after purchasing an additional 125,262 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $500.34 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57. The company’s 50 day moving average is $524.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $486.03. The company has a market cap of $72.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The firm 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%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.18 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on NOC shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Alembic Global Advisors cut Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.