J. Stern & Co. LLP Acquires New Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

J. Stern & Co. LLP bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 740 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $391,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 241.2% in the second 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 purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth about $52,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE NOC traded down $1.21 on Tuesday, hitting $484.06. 42,714 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 861,577. The firm has a market cap of $70.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $519.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $487.03. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week 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.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on NOC shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.56.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.