Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Bought by Hilltop Holdings Inc.

Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 493.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,578 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 6,301 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $4,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 241.2% in the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 245.5% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen raised Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $484.64 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $70.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.33. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $517.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $487.46. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $667,727 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.