1,436 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Purchased by M Holdings Securities Inc.

M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,436 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $757,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NOC. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth $6,001,616,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,298,141,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth about $376,135,000. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth about $44,039,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth about $194,058,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC opened at $549.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $77.99 billion, a PE ratio of 17.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of -0.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $519.41 and a 200-day moving average of $587.68. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a one year low of $470.06 and a one year high of $774.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.18 by $0.71. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The company had revenue of $11.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.67 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a dividend of $2.47 per share. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 31.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $615.00 target price on Northrop Grumman and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Guggenheim increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $612.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $550.00 to $675.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $556.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $643.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 98 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $555.65, for a total value of $54,453.70. Following the sale, the director owned 4,314 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,074.10. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers. Its business spans aeronautics, defense, mission technologies and space, including military aircraft, autonomous systems, missile and air-defense capabilities, sensors, communications and satellites. The company is the prime contractor for the B-21 Raider and is developing the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile system. It also supplies technologies and components for other defense programs, as well as launch vehicles, propulsion systems and spacecraft.