Moors & Cabot Inc. Grows Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 6.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,502 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Excalibur Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 23.3% in the 2nd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 529 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 22,326 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $9,733,000 after buying an additional 591 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at $21,492,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 138.1% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 5,601 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,442,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 193.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 17,725 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,727,000 after acquiring an additional 11,679 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,225,917.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,846 shares of company stock valued at $1,393,028 in the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $521.07 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $490.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $468.51. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $414.56 and a 12-month high of $528.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $77.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.44, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.02 billion. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NOC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $523.20.

About Northrop Grumman

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.