Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Grows Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,487 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NOC. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 60 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Sageworth Trust Co grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1,440.0% during the 1st quarter. Sageworth Trust Co now owns 77 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXS Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. 82.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NOC shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $448.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $502.00 to $485.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 28th. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $655.00 to $615.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued 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 $506.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Mark A. Caylor sold 1,670 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.87, for a total transaction of $731,242.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,570 shares in the company, valued at $6,379,765.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NOC stock traded up $1.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $433.49. 1,034,233 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 541,207. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $416.71 and a fifty-two week high of $556.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $438.56 and its 200-day moving average is $449.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $65.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 0.52.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The aerospace company reported $5.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.31 by $0.03. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 12.27%. The company had revenue of $9.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.32 billion. Analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 22.63 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 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 28th were given a dividend of $1.87 per share. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 25th. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.78%.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. The company's Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems in the United States and internationally. 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.