Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Position Lowered by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV reduced its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,385 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 334 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $9,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 245.5% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their target price 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $550.56.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $500.34 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $524.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $486.03. The company has a market capitalization of $72.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 51.05%.

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.