Two Sigma Advisers LP Buys 153,100 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 20.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 888,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 153,100 shares during the quarter. Northrop Grumman accounts for 1.0% of Two Sigma Advisers LP’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Two Sigma Advisers LP’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $417,058,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sapient Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 2,049 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $962,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,006 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 900 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $933,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 432 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $545.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total transaction of $82,383.36. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $304,217.72. This represents a 21.31% 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 $2,127,632. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.8%

NOC stock opened at $472.67 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.15. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $496.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $485.48.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.27). Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.07 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.52%.

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.