Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Acquired by Pittenger & Anderson Inc.

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,613 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,623,128,000 after buying an additional 621,636 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,218,132,000 after acquiring an additional 211,459 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,688,511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,765,543,000 after buying an additional 23,398 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,276,000 after buying an additional 150,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 683,427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $297,937,000 after buying an additional 125,262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $512.92 on Wednesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $523.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $484.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.18 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.05%.

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.