OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Reduces Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora decreased its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,690 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 46 shares during the period. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 150.0% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 135 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the first quarter worth about $304,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 160,328 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $74,027,000 after acquiring an additional 14,275 shares during the last quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 1,610 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Souders Financial Advisors lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 920 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $440,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $531.38 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.92, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $524.14 and a 200-day moving average of $485.78. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $418.60 and a 52-week high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.18 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. 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.