Ascent Group LLC Has $2.27 Million Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Ascent Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,302 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,272,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NOC. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 1,915.9% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 438,521 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $191,173,000 after purchasing an additional 416,768 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth about $90,177,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth about $74,206,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 113.6% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 296,844 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $129,409,000 after buying an additional 157,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 16.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,276,000 after buying an additional 150,367 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on NOC. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. This trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock worth $667,727 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.6 %

NOC opened at $484.64 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $517.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $487.46. 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 firm has a market cap of $70.61 billion, a PE ratio of 30.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.33. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.18 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 51.05%.

About Northrop Grumman

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.