Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. Grows Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,941 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 291.7% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 94 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Argus upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $548.88.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $539.96 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $77.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $487.10 and its 200 day moving average is $492.17.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Insider Activity

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total transaction of $213,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $112,883.75. This represents a 65.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,182 in the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.