New Century Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 18.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,029 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the third quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,141 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,025 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.6% in the third quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,321 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $698,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.6% in the second quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NOC. Barclays raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $535.00.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman 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 directly owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman 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 directly owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total value of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,879 shares of company stock worth $1,410,703. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $530.79 on Monday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve 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. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $521.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $479.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.55 billion, a PE ratio of 37.12, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 57.62%.

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.