Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 15,898 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 13.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,467 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 15,898 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Northrop Grumman worth $49,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NOC. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 7.4% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,058 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,307,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 6,936 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,053,000 after purchasing an additional 1,888 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 10.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,975,754,000 after buying an additional 410,736 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 19.5% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 68,243 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $30,038,000 after buying an additional 11,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.6% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 142,054 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $62,544,000 after buying an additional 4,883 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $437.03 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $454.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $458.74. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $414.56 and a fifty-two week high of $496.89. The company has a market capitalization of $64.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NOC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $510.36.

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.