Provident Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Provident Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,520 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $663,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,623,128,000 after buying an additional 621,636 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.8% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,218,132,000 after purchasing an additional 211,459 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,688,511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,765,543,000 after purchasing an additional 23,398 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 2,271,466 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,063,364,000 after buying an additional 80,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,260,599 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $590,137,000 after buying an additional 16,275 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total value of $663,330.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares in the company, valued at $3,225,917.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,846 shares of company stock worth $1,393,028. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $524.37 on Tuesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $414.56 and a fifty-two week high of $528.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $76.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $480.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $465.95.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on NOC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 21st. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $523.20.

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.