Vista Capital Partners Inc. Acquires New Shares in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Vista Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 422 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NOC. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,623,128,000 after acquiring an additional 621,636 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 1,915.9% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 438,521 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $191,173,000 after purchasing an additional 416,768 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 4.8% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,218,132,000 after purchasing an additional 211,459 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth about $90,177,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth about $74,206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors downgraded Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE NOC opened at $520.58 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $523.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $484.30. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. 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 $75.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.35.

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. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.18 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 51.05%.

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.