Private Advisor Group LLC Has $4.81 Million Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 13.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,107 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,049 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $4,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,141 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,025 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,321 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $547.44.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $519.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $523.54 and a 200-day moving average of $481.03.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.18 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 53.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,490 shares of company stock valued at $747,372 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.