Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 798,626 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,321 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $374,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 291.7% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 94 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $304,217.72. The trade was a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,182. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on NOC. Wolfe Research raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their target price on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $500.00 to $575.00 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $548.88.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $539.96 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $488.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $491.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.08%.

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.