Legal & General Group Plc Buys 150,367 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 16.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 150,367 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.74% of Northrop Grumman worth $474,276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total value of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,846 shares of company stock worth $1,393,028 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $523.20.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NOC opened at $526.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $505.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $472.12. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $414.56 and a 1 year high of $534.61. The stock has a market cap of $77.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

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.