Commerce Bank Increases Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Key Points

• Commerce Bank has increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 62.2%, acquiring an additional 57,789 shares, bringing its total to 150,724 shares valued at $77.17 million.
• A variety of analysts have upgraded their ratings for Northrop Grumman, with price targets now ranging from $521.00 to $650.00, reflecting a generally optimistic outlook on the stock.
• Northrop Grumman has recently increased its quarterly dividend from $2.06 to $2.31, yielding an annualized payout of $9.24 based on a payout ratio of 34.06%.

Commerce Bank raised its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 62.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 150,724 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 57,789 shares during the period. Commerce Bank owned about 0.10% of Northrop Grumman worth $77,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 55,522.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,520,158 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $778,336,000 after buying an additional 1,517,425 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,866,133,000 after buying an additional 461,307 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,030,644 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $952,962,000 after buying an additional 450,858 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 337.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 482,112 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $226,250,000 after buying an additional 371,814 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,733,680 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $813,599,000 after buying an additional 343,018 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 729 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $368,706.33. Following the sale, the vice president owned 7,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,819,575.04. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Fleming sold 3,500 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $1,770,195.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $924,041.79. This trade represents a 65.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,569 shares of company stock valued at $8,323,150 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NOC stock traded up $10.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $587.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,006,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 778,934. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $511.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $494.47. The company has a market cap of $84.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.04. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a twelve month low of $426.24 and a twelve month high of $587.88.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.84 by $0.27. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 25.52%. The company had revenue of $10.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.36 EPS. Northrop Grumman's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.31 per share. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is presently 34.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NOC shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $547.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $542.00 price objective (down from $580.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $586.79.

Northrop Grumman 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.