442 Shares in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Purchased by Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 442 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 31.1% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 337 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $178,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at about $644,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 11.5% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 533 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 176.8% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 54,214 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $28,629,000 after buying an additional 34,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 108.0% during the third quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 803 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $616,067.08. Following the transaction, the vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273 over the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $500.34 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $524.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $486.03. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $72.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.18 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

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

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.