Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Sells 806 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS trimmed its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,120 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 806 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $13,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 11.0% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 18,562 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $9,802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,844 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.5% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,747 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,035,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 24.6% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 6,980 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,686,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 7.6% during the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,229 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 9.2% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 100,430 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $53,034,000 after buying an additional 8,502 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on NOC shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total value of $213,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 245 shares in the company, valued at $112,883.75. This represents a 65.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,126,405. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $488.98 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The firm has a market cap of $70.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a 50 day moving average of $474.50 and a 200 day moving average of $493.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. As a group, research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.