Insider Selling: Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) CEO Sells 7,500 Shares of Stock

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $3,793,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 201,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,964,243.54. The trade was a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $517.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.14. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $490.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $482.62. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. As a group, research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $2.31 per share. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on NOC shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Argus raised Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $545.31.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the first quarter worth $27,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the first quarter worth $28,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 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.