Central Bank & Trust Co. Acquires 42 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Central Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,889 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $283,114,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 10.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,975,754,000 after acquiring an additional 410,736 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at approximately $165,786,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 2,801.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 330,499 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $154,720,000 after acquiring an additional 319,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,866,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC traded down $2.39 on Friday, hitting $432.09. The company had a trading volume of 1,889,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 989,996. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $458.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $460.90. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $414.56 and a 1 year high of $496.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $506.15.

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.