Venturi Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 337 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,623,128,000 after purchasing an additional 621,636 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,218,132,000 after buying an additional 211,459 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,688,511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,765,543,000 after buying an additional 23,398 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 16.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,276,000 after buying an additional 150,367 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 22.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 683,427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $297,937,000 after buying an additional 125,262 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. TD Cowen raised Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC stock opened at $520.39 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $75.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $524.14 and a 200-day moving average of $485.78. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. 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.