Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Pacific Sun Financial Corp

Pacific Sun Financial Corp lessened its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 490 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 20 shares during the period. Pacific Sun Financial Corp’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 291.7% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 94 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NOC shares. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $545.31.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $517.22 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $422.19 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $490.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $482.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released 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). Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.07 billion. Equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $2.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $3,793,275.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 201,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,964,243.54. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $490.00, for a total transaction of $485,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 319 shares in the company, valued at $156,310. This represents a 75.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,340 shares of company stock valued at $6,183,378. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.