Natixis Advisors L.P. Purchases 8,811 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 218,770 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,811 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned approximately 0.15% of Northrop Grumman worth $102,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 247.6% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at $70,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total value of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total value of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total value of $322,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $917,317.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC stock traded down $5.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $469.09. 1,432,693 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,013,910. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $464.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $465.95. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $496.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.80, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.34.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. The company had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.50 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $1.87 dividend. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet cut Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $509.38.

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.