Mackenzie Financial Corp Reduces Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Mackenzie Financial Corp reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 48.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 180,099 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 170,033 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned about 0.12% of Northrop Grumman worth $78,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NOC. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,454,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth approximately $1,029,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 104.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 246,581 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $107,260,000 after acquiring an additional 126,063 shares during the period. NBW Capital LLC grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. NBW Capital LLC now owns 8,779 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,827,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Kingfisher Capital LLC grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 3,116 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,358,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,225,917.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total value of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,846 shares of company stock valued at $1,393,028 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $523.20.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $526.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $505.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $472.12. The company has a market capitalization of $77.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $414.56 and a 12-month high of $534.61.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.34 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

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.