Kestra Investment Management LLC Invests $341,000 in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 645 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $341,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 245.5% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on NOC shares. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC opened at $484.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $517.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $487.46. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.18 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $667,727 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.