Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) VP Sells $663,330.84 in Stock

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares in the company, valued at $3,225,917.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.5 %

NOC stock opened at $484.32 on Thursday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $414.56 and a twelve month high of $496.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $442.13 and its 200-day moving average is $455.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.67 billion, a PE ratio of 33.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a $2.06 dividend. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 57.62%.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 960.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NOC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Barclays upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $440.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $516.29.

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.