Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Raises Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 24.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,980 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 20.0% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Aviso Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 110.7% during the second quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,896 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna International Securities Ltd. acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at $1,133,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 133.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,248 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $980,000 after buying an additional 1,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 40.8% in the 3rd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 3,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $496.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $521.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $486.55. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

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.