Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,247 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 1,251 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $6,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,623,128,000 after purchasing an additional 621,636 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.8% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,218,132,000 after buying an additional 211,459 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,688,511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,765,543,000 after buying an additional 23,398 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 2,271,466 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,063,364,000 after buying an additional 80,887 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,260,599 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $590,137,000 after buying an additional 16,275 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,846 shares of company stock valued at $1,393,028. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $440.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $523.20.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $515.93 on Thursday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $414.56 and a 1 year high of $528.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $483.37 and a 200 day moving average of $466.71. The firm has a market cap of $76.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.08, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.02 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.62%.

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.