Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Bought by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 88,696 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $46,838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on NOC shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE NOC opened at $490.86 on Wednesday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $521.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $486.44. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The company has a market capitalization of $71.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.41, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $6.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273 in the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.