2,800 Shares in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Acquired by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,800 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,340,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NOC. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 5.6% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,623,128,000 after purchasing an additional 621,636 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,218,132,000 after buying an additional 211,459 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,688,511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,765,543,000 after buying an additional 23,398 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 2,271,466 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,063,364,000 after buying an additional 80,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,260,599 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $590,137,000 after acquiring an additional 16,275 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on NOC shares. Alembic Global Advisors raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $516.29.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $493.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $442.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $455.81. The company has a market cap of $72.15 billion, a PE ratio of 34.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.32. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $414.56 and a 1-year high of $496.89.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced 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 company had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 57.62%.

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.