Darden Wealth Group Inc Acquires New Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Darden Wealth Group Inc bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 430 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 809,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $427,444,000 after purchasing an additional 3,211 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,190,000. L & S Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth about $10,899,000. Smithfield Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 7,318 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,866,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at about $273,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NOC stock opened at $496.41 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $521.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $486.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $72.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.18 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $550.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 1,289 shares of company stock valued at $685,273 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman 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.