Gold Investment Management Ltd. Cuts Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Gold Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 27.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,819 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 682 shares during the quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on NOC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on 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 raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE NOC traded up $7.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $527.84. The company had a trading volume of 21,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 862,280. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $523.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $484.30. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The company has a market capitalization of $76.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.18 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.