Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Trims Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC cut its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,607 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 383 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 241.2% in the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 245.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,846 shares of company stock valued at $1,393,028. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $440.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. 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 report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors lowered Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $523.20.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.5 %

NOC opened at $525.13 on Monday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $414.56 and a 12-month high of $528.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.71 billion, a PE ratio of 36.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $496.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $469.84.

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 the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.34 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 57.62%.

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.