Vestor Capital LLC Cuts Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Vestor Capital LLC lessened its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC – Free Report) by 23.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 487 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 147 shares during the quarter. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $257,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,623,128,000 after acquiring an additional 621,636 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1,915.9% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 438,521 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $191,173,000 after purchasing an additional 416,768 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.8% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,218,132,000 after purchasing an additional 211,459 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at approximately $90,177,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth approximately $74,206,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on NOC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Barclays increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $550.56.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on NOC

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $506.95 on Monday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The firm has a market cap of $73.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.41, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $523.52 and a 200 day moving average of $483.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The firm had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.18 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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