1,144 Shares in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Bought by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,144 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $604,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 37.7% during the second quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 4,184 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,824,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 12.6% during the second quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $457,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,804 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,530,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,017,000. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the second quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 98,773 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $43,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,508 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $666,461 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna upped 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $553.27.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NYSE:NOC traded down $1.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $480.00. 699,634 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 861,732. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $506.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $488.20. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.93 billion, a PE ratio of 29.74, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.33.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.18 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

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.