Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Stock: Sanders Capital LLC Grows Position

Key Points

• Sanders Capital increased its Northrop Grumman stake by 0.2% in the third quarter, adding 2,989 shares to reach 1.83 million shares valued at about $885 million.
• Institutional investors own 83.4% of the company’s stock. Analysts’ consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $643.74.
• Northrop Grumman beat quarterly EPS estimates, reporting $7.89 versus $7.18 expected; revenue rose 6.7% year over year to $11.12 billion, slightly below forecasts.

Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,831,238 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 2,989 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC owned about 1.29% of Northrop Grumman worth $885,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,169,195 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $6,707,203,000 after buying an additional 168,267 shares during the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,773,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth approximately $3,308,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth approximately $1,298,141,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2,414.5% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 27,358 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $13,934,000 after buying an additional 26,270 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $556.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $585.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Sunday, October 25th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $785.00 to $655.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $643.74.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC stock traded up $0.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $525.71. The company had a trading volume of 1,192,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,006,915. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $519.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $588.90. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a one year low of $470.06 and a one 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. The company has a market capitalization of $74.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.58, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of -0.13.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $11.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.67 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 98 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $555.65, for a total value of $54,453.70. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,397,074.10. This trade represents a 2.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers. Its business spans aeronautics, defense, mission technologies and space, including military aircraft, autonomous systems, missile and air-defense capabilities, sensors, communications and satellites.

The company is the prime contractor for the B-21 Raider and is developing the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile system. It also supplies technologies and components for other defense programs, as well as launch vehicles, propulsion systems and spacecraft.

Northrop Grumman traces its roots to Northrop Aircraft, founded in 1939, and Grumman, founded in 1930; the two companies combined in 1994.

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