Toronto Dominion Bank Decreases Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Toronto Dominion Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 23.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,863 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 30,674 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank owned approximately 0.07% of Northrop Grumman worth $47,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 47.1% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 728 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 34.2% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 266,273 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $124,653,000 after purchasing an additional 67,875 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at $114,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,653 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,519,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 688 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC stock traded up $9.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $480.30. 1,133,287 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 975,638. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $441.47 and a 200 day moving average of $455.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $414.56 and a 52-week high of $496.89. The company has a market cap of $71.08 billion, a PE ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.33.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.95 by $0.41. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The business had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Alembic Global Advisors raised Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $515.07.

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.