Czech National Bank Purchases 1,495 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Czech National Bank raised its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 28,004 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 1,495 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $14,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,623,128,000 after acquiring an additional 621,636 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,218,132,000 after acquiring an additional 211,459 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,688,511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,765,543,000 after buying an additional 23,398 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,260,599 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $590,137,000 after buying an additional 16,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 1,156,477 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $541,393,000 after buying an additional 28,934 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock traded down $0.84 on Friday, hitting $536.74. 393,951 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 891,192. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $414.56 and a one year high of $555.57. 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 fifty day moving average of $513.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $474.77. The company has a market capitalization of $79.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $440.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, June 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $523.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total value of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,846 shares of company stock valued at $1,393,028. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.