Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Purchased by Icon Wealth Advisors LLC

Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 11.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,271 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $112,222,000 after purchasing an additional 5,334 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,938,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Aviso Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 110.7% during the 2nd quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,896 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $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 valued at approximately $1,133,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,287 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.2 %

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $489.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $517.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $487.24. 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 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted 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 company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $550.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock worth $667,727 over the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.