Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Bought by XTX Topco Ltd

XTX Topco Ltd lifted its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,272 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 241.2% in the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 245.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $523.20.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $525.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $496.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $469.70. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $414.56 and a 52 week high of $528.76. The stock has a market cap of $77.71 billion, a PE ratio of 36.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.34 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman 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 transaction of $695,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was 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 directly owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,846 shares of company stock worth $1,393,028. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.