Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Acquired by River Street Advisors LLC

River Street Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,308 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the quarter. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 245.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at 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.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC traded down $6.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $493.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,428,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 865,624. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $523.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $486.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $71.97 billion, a PE ratio of 30.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.18 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued 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 1.67%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on NOC. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $550.56.

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.