Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Stock Acquired by Parcion Private Wealth LLC

Key Points

• Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its Northrop Grumman stake by 1,712% in the third quarter, acquiring 7,687 additional shares for a total holding of 8,136 shares valued at approximately $3.93 million.
• Institutional investors own 83.4% of Northrop Grumman, while an insider sale involved just 95 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
• Northrop Grumman exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $7.89 versus the $7.18 consensus, while revenue rose 6.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $643.74.

Parcion Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 1,712.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,136 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,687 shares during the quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,169,195 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $6,707,203,000 after buying an additional 168,267 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,001,616,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,298,141,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 960,690 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $655,373,000 after acquiring an additional 5,811 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,121 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $400,557,000 after acquiring an additional 58,690 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 95 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total transaction of $52,015.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,405,299.29. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC opened at $558.79 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $520.51 and a 200 day moving average of $591.78. The company has a market capitalization of $79.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of -0.11. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1-year low of $470.06 and a 1-year high of $774.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.18 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $11.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.14 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.67 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a $2.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is currently 31.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $585.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Sunday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $680.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Northrop Grumman from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $643.74.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation NYSE: NOC is a global aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers, with the U.S. government representing its primary customer base. The company operates across aerospace, defense, space, cybersecurity and advanced technology markets.

Its products and services include military aircraft and autonomous systems, space systems and satellites, missile defense technologies, command-and-control systems, cyber solutions, sensors, communications networks and other mission-critical systems.

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