Xponance Inc. Lowers Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Xponance Inc. decreased its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 5.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,369 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,156 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $8,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 14.1% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 170 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.6% during the second quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.4% during the first quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 965 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.1% during the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,068 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $902,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renasant Bank boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 3.3% during the first quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 743 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors downgraded Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $523.20.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC stock opened at $533.20 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $498.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $470.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $78.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $414.56 and a 52-week high of $534.61.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.34 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 57.62%.

Insider Activity

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

Northrop Grumman 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.