Swiss National Bank Purchases 500 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Swiss National Bank grew its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 417,245 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $220,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NOC. AIA Group Ltd raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 20.0% in the third 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. Aviso Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 110.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Susquehanna International Securities Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,133,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 133.9% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,248 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $980,000 after buying an additional 1,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 40.8% in the third quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 3,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.3 %

NOC opened at $493.99 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $523.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $486.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $71.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly 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. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.18 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,289 shares of company stock valued at $685,273. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NOC. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.