Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 1,404 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 6.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,753 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $10,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,975,754,000 after purchasing an additional 410,736 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,194,298 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,846,289,000 after acquiring an additional 142,036 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 2,271,466 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,063,364,000 after purchasing an additional 80,887 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,260,599 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $590,137,000 after purchasing an additional 16,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 1,156,477 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $541,393,000 after purchasing an additional 28,934 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $510.36.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE NOC traded down $3.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $433.87. The stock had a trading volume of 216,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 980,325. The business’s 50 day moving average is $452.83 and its 200-day moving average is $458.44. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $414.56 and a 52 week high of $496.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $64.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.57, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.33.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.50 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.62%.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

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.