Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Acquired by Claro Advisors LLC

Claro Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 24.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,467 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,623,128,000 after acquiring an additional 621,636 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1,915.9% in 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 period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter valued at about $90,177,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at approximately $74,206,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 113.6% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 296,844 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $129,409,000 after buying an additional 157,854 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NOC shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $550.56.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC opened at $493.99 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $523.27 and a 200-day moving average of $486.19. The firm has a market cap of $71.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 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. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.18 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend 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.