Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Boosts Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,666 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 70,532.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 637,105 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $347,611,000 after buying an additional 636,203 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 74.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $517,028,000 after acquiring an additional 502,060 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,975,754,000 after acquiring an additional 410,736 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $165,786,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 29.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,605,679 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $706,804,000 after acquiring an additional 362,515 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $450.00 target price (down from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $541.00 to $473.00 in a research report on Friday, December 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $494.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total value of $95,482.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,784.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total value of $322,239.42. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at $917,317.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NOC stock traded up $1.91 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $479.27. The stock had a trading volume of 310,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 941,379. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $414.56 and a 52-week high of $496.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $457.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $461.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.91 billion, a PE ratio of 35.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.34.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.43 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 23.07%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.50 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $1.87 dividend. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.49%.

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.