Pathstone Holdings LLC Increases Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,562 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,844 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $9,802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 16.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $474,276,000 after purchasing an additional 150,367 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 683,427 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $297,937,000 after acquiring an additional 125,262 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 443,724 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $229,139,000 after acquiring an additional 5,203 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 357,466 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $188,767,000 after buying an additional 39,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 353,466 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $186,655,000 after buying an additional 1,028 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $491.98 on Thursday. 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 50-day moving average of $521.50 and a 200 day moving average of $486.48. The firm has a market cap of $71.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48, 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.18 EPS. Northrop Grumman's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on NOC. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $550.56.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,289 shares of company stock valued at $685,273. 0.22% of the stock is owned by 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.