Appleton Partners Inc. MA Sells 342 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA trimmed its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,691 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 342 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $11,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 245.5% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $523.20.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $538.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.68, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $510.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $473.82. 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 fifty-two week low of $414.56 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57.

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. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.34 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 57.62%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of Northrop Grumman 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,846 shares of company stock valued at $1,393,028. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.