Fisher Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 7,583.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 123,788 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 122,177 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 0.08% of Northrop Grumman worth $57,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth about $283,114,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 74.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $517,028,000 after purchasing an additional 502,060 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,975,754,000 after buying an additional 410,736 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter worth about $165,786,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 2,801.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 330,499 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $154,720,000 after acquiring an additional 319,109 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,421,784.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $469.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.42 billion, a PE ratio of 32.80, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $414.56 and a one year high of $496.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $464.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $465.95.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The firm had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $1.87 dividend. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $509.38.

About Northrop Grumman

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.