Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Acquires 39,780 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 13.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 330,647 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 39,780 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 0.23% of Northrop Grumman worth $174,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 245.5% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth about $47,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC opened at $480.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $69.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.33. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $506.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $487.97. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. 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 (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.18 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NOC shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $565.00 to $505.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $546.81.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $666,461. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman 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.