V Square Quantitative Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on NOC. StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $514.33.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NOC stock opened at $429.78 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $414.56 and a twelve month high of $496.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $460.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $462.16. The stock has a market cap of $63.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $10.13 billion for 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%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.