Holderness Investments Co. Acquires 39 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Holderness Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Holderness Investments Co.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 245.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter valued at $47,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on NOC shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $523.20.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NOC opened at $525.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.72, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $414.56 and a twelve month high of $528.76. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $496.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $469.78.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its 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 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 business posted $5.34 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given 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 1.57%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of Northrop Grumman 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,846 shares of company stock valued at $1,393,028. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.