Horan Capital Advisors LLC. Decreases Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Horan Capital Advisors LLC. lessened its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,622 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 101 shares during the period. Horan Capital Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 20.0% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. Aviso Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 110.7% in the second quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,896 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 996 shares during the period. Susquehanna International Securities Ltd. bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,133,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 133.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,248 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $980,000 after buying an additional 1,287 shares during the period. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 40.8% in the 3rd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 3,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 1.1 %

NOC stock opened at $488.68 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $522.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $486.29. The stock has a market cap of $71.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.28, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.35. 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 twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion for 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%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.18 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the business’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 directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273. 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.