Catalina Capital Group LLC Invests $234,000 in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Catalina Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 444 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aviso Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 110.7% in the 2nd quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,896 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna International Securities Ltd. bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth $1,133,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 9.8% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 160,328 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $74,027,000 after purchasing an additional 14,275 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 133.9% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,248 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares during the period. Finally, BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at $10,208,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on NOC shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC opened at $520.58 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average of $523.63 and a 200 day moving average of $484.30. The company has a market capitalization of $75.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.30, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

About Northrop Grumman

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.