Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Shares Newly Purchased by M Holdings Securities Inc.

M Holdings Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,436 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $757,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Putney Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.2% during the third quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC now owns 448 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Glenview Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.1% during the first quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 1,796 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,225,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.4% in the first quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.8% in the second quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors now owns 2,469 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goepper Burkhardt LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.1% in the first quarter. Goepper Burkhardt LLC now owns 537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 98 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $555.65, for a total transaction of $54,453.70. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,074.10. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NOC stock opened at $549.01 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $77.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of -0.13. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $519.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $587.68. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1 year low of $470.06 and a 1 year high of $774.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.18 by $0.71. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 10.37%. The firm had revenue of $11.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a dividend of $2.47 per share. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NOC. Robert W. Baird upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $550.00 to $675.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $694.00 to $698.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $590.00 to $540.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $419.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $643.74.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers. Its business spans aeronautics, defense, mission technologies and space, including military aircraft, autonomous systems, missile and air-defense capabilities, sensors, communications and satellites. The company is the prime contractor for the B-21 Raider and is developing the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile system. It also supplies technologies and components for other defense programs, as well as launch vehicles, propulsion systems and spacecraft.