Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by American Trust

American Trust lessened its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 69.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,115 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 2,476 shares during the period. American Trust’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 22,878 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $10,710,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,979 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,331,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth approximately $596,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 16,988 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,953,000 after buying an additional 8,626 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 2,492 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,167,000 after buying an additional 228 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 have recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $523.20.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares in the company, valued at $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,846 shares of company stock valued at $1,393,028 in the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $538.85 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $79.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.68, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $414.56 and a one year high of $555.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $510.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $473.82.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.