FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Grows Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,975 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 264 shares during the quarter. Northrop Grumman makes up 0.9% of FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,817,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 960.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 247.6% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Susquehanna raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $510.36.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NYSE NOC traded down $0.98 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $434.02. The company had a trading volume of 78,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 988,375. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $414.56 and a 52 week high of $496.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $456.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $459.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.42, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.33.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. The firm had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.50 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.62%.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.