Apollon Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 17.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,909 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 878 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,623,128,000 after buying an additional 621,636 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 1,915.9% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 438,521 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $191,173,000 after purchasing an additional 416,768 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 4.8% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,218,132,000 after purchasing an additional 211,459 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at about $90,177,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $74,206,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $531.38 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The stock has a market cap of $77.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $523.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $485.43.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 1.55%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 51.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on NOC shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on 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 increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.56.

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.