Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. Purchases New Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 400 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MGO One Seven LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 3,693 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at about $696,000. Kingfisher Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,359,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 116,442 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $54,511,000 after purchasing an additional 6,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth about $329,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC stock traded down $4.28 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $527.95. The stock had a trading volume of 49,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 879,825. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $516.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $476.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.13 billion, a PE ratio of 37.22, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 57.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,879 shares of company stock worth $1,410,703. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. BTIG Research began coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. Alembic Global Advisors cut Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $523.20.

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.