Quantbot Technologies LP Has $4.05 Million Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Quantbot Technologies LP cut its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 56.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,672 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 10,053 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $4,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 4.4% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 231,736 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $122,076,000 after purchasing an additional 9,723 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 92.7% during the third quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 2,071 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $112,222,000 after acquiring an additional 5,334 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 11.5% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,994 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,747 shares during the period. Finally, Marco Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.2% during the third quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 16,450 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,687,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on NOC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NOC stock opened at $488.43 on Wednesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $519.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $487.12. The company has a market cap of $71.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

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.