Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Position Increased by XTX Topco Ltd

XTX Topco Ltd raised its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 8.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,272 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 244 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 1,402.9% during the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 12,925 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,186,000 after acquiring an additional 12,065 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the first quarter valued at $870,000. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the first quarter valued at $778,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 7,574.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 123,637 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $57,879,000 after acquiring an additional 122,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Mountain Financial LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth $264,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on NOC shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. 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 report on Tuesday, August 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $523.20.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $525.13 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $414.56 and a 12-month high of $528.76. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $496.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $469.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $77.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.72, a P/E/G 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.34 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 57.62%.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,225,917.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,846 shares of company stock valued at $1,393,028. 0.22% of the stock is currently 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.