Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Raises Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 798,626 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,321 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.55% of Northrop Grumman worth $374,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 337.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 482,112 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $226,250,000 after acquiring an additional 371,814 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 92,935 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $43,613,000 after purchasing an additional 4,239 shares in the last quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. now owns 4,941 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,319,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,866,133,000 after purchasing an additional 461,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Sarl lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 43,949 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $20,625,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of Northrop Grumman 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 245 shares in the company, valued at $112,883.75. This trade represents a 65.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % 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 worth $2,127,182 in the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $539.96 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $488.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $491.81. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NOC. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Northrop Grumman from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $575.00 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Nine equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $548.88.

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.