Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Stock Bought by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Rakuten Investment Management increased its Northrop Grumman stake by 9.8% in the third quarter, adding 2,143 shares to hold 24,115 shares valued at about $12.17 million.
• Analyst sentiment is a “Moderate Buy”: 15 analysts rate the stock Buy, nine Hold and one Sell, with a consensus price target of $643.74.
• Northrop Grumman reported quarterly EPS of $7.89, beating estimates of $7.18, while revenue of $11.12 billion was slightly below expectations and up 6.7% year over year.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,115 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 2,143 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $12,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,773,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,308,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,298,141,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter worth $1,461,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 98 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $555.65, for a total value of $54,453.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,397,074.10. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on NOC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $620.00 target price (down from $800.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $612.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $556.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $615.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $643.74.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC stock opened at $524.72 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $520.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $590.26. The firm has a market cap of $74.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.55, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of -0.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.23. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1 year low of $470.06 and a 1 year high of $774.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.18 by $0.71. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 10.37%. The company had revenue of $11.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.67 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were given a dividend of $2.47 per share. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.17%.

About Northrop Grumman

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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