Soltis Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 4,133 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Key Points

• Soltis Investment Advisors increased its Northrop Grumman stake by 37.9% in the third quarter, purchasing 4,133 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 15,025 shares valued at approximately $7.26 million.
• Institutional investors own 83.4% of Northrop Grumman, with several major firms—including State Street, BlackRock, Bank of America and Legal & General—holding or adding significant positions.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $643.74. The company also exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $7.89 in EPS versus the $7.18 consensus estimate.

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,025 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 4,133 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $7,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew 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 acquiring an additional 168,267 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,001,616,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth $1,298,141,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in 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, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 747,121 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $380,516,000 after purchasing an additional 16,195 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NOC shares. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $680.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $550.00 to $675.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $643.74.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $562.40 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a one year low of $470.06 and a one year high of $774.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $520.61 and a 200-day moving average of $592.13. The company has a market capitalization of $79.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of -0.11. 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 (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.18 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $11.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.14 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 10.37%. The company's revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.67 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were given a $2.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 95 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total transaction of $52,015.35. Following the sale, the director owned 4,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,405,299.29. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NOC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.