Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 803 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,602 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $8,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 1,095 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 51.4% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 8,220 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,341,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at about $253,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $535.00.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $530.79 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The stock has a market cap of $78.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.12, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s 50 day moving average is $521.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $478.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The company had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 57.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares in the company, valued at $3,225,917.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,879 shares of company stock worth $1,410,703. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

About Northrop Grumman

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.