Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Bought by Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,370 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 356 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. RFG Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 19.8% during the third quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 575 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 8.3% during the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,100 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $484,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.2% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 648 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth about $555,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 15.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $665,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (down from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet lowered Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $497.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,761.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NOC stock traded up $12.62 on Thursday, reaching $487.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 701,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 992,579. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $414.56 and a 52 week high of $496.89. The company has a market capitalization of $72.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $461.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $465.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.47. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 23.07% and a net margin of 5.23%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $1.87 per share. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 55.49%.

Northrop Grumman 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.