Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Grows Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 63.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 194 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NOC. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,623,128,000 after buying an additional 621,636 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 1,915.9% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 438,521 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $191,173,000 after purchasing an additional 416,768 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 211,459 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth $90,177,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the first quarter worth $83,182,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,879 shares of company stock valued at $1,410,703. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:NOC opened at $526.85 on Wednesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The company has a 50-day moving average of $519.44 and a 200 day moving average of $477.71. The firm has a market cap of $77.97 billion, a PE ratio of 36.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The company had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $535.00.

Northrop Grumman 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.