AIA Group Ltd Buys 1,242 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aviso Wealth Management boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 110.7% during the second quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,896 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $827,000 after buying an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna International Securities Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,133,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 160,328 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $74,027,000 after acquiring an additional 14,275 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 133.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,248 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth $10,208,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE NOC opened at $520.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $75.85 billion, a PE ratio of 32.25, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $523.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $484.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.18 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

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.