National Pension Service Has $167.58 Million Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 327,307 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,437 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.23% of Northrop Grumman worth $167,584,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fox Hill Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management now owns 5,673 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,905,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 19.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 278,567 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $142,630,000 after acquiring an additional 44,685 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 6.7% during the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 52,528 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $26,896,000 after acquiring an additional 3,313 shares in the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the first quarter worth about $2,322,000. Finally, Rossmore Private Capital raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 12.8% during the first quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 712 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 729 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $368,706.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 7,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,819,575.04. This trade represents a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $3,793,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 201,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,964,243.54. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,536 shares of company stock worth $8,306,857 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on NOC shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $547.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $480.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $586.79.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC stock opened at $581.86 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $528.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $499.57. The company has a market capitalization of $83.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.45, a PEG ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.15. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52-week low of $426.24 and a 52-week high of $594.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.84 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $10.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.15 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 25.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $2.31 per share. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 34.06%.

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.