Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Buys 3,905 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 120.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,151 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,905 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 19,726 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $10,417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,130,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,504 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 745 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 274.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,566 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,355,000 after buying an additional 1,880 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on NOC shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Argus raised Northrop Grumman to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $542.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total transaction of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 709 shares in the company, valued at $304,217.72. This trade represents a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,127,182. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NOC traded up $10.31 on Friday, hitting $473.38. 1,329,267 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 889,183. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The company has a market capitalization of $68.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $491.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $490.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.27). Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.07 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.08%.

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.