J. W. Coons Advisors LLC Takes $206,000 Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

J. W. Coons Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 390 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 8,025 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,238,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 24.2% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,467 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,303,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth $759,000. BCGM Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.0% during the third quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,312 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,333,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, River Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 1,308 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target 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. TD Cowen raised Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $550.56.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $493.99 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $523.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $486.19. 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 stock has a market cap of $71.97 billion, a PE ratio of 30.61, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $418.60 and a 52-week high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced 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 return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.18 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date 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.