Insider Selling: Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Director Sells 33 Shares of Stock

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 33 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.10, for a total transaction of $16,833.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,188 shares in the company, valued at $2,136,298.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $529.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $77.08 billion, a PE ratio of 32.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $523.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $484.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The firm had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.18 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 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 issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on NOC shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.56.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 8,502 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,379 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the third quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,431 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,103,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 4.5% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,747 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,035,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

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.