Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Grows Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 28,544 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,016 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $12,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the first quarter worth about $47,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NOC. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $440.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $523.20.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $518.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $485.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $467.07. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $414.56 and a 52 week high of $528.76. The company has a market cap of $75.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.26, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.62%.

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.