Sepio Capital LP Takes $2.54 Million Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Sepio Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,416 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,535,000.

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

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE NOC traded up $1.27 on Friday, reaching $466.43. 391,347 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 968,363. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $496.89. The company has a market cap of $69.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.58, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $468.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $465.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 24th. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on NOC. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna lifted their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. 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, April 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $514.33.

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.