Pitcairn Co. Cuts Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Pitcairn Co. reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,033 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 149 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,099 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,919,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 47.1% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 728 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 34.2% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 266,273 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $124,653,000 after buying an additional 67,875 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at about $114,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,653 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,519,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $510.36.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 6.4 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC traded up $28.45 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $470.57. The company had a trading volume of 1,967,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 973,719. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $441.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $455.32. The stock has a market cap of $69.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.44, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.33. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $496.89.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.71 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 57.62%.

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.