First County Bank CT Sells 59 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

First County Bank CT cut its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 624 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 59 shares during the period. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NOC. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 14.1% in 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 during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,068 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $902,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renasant Bank lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 743 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 21st. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. Alembic Global Advisors cut Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $523.20.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC opened at $526.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $414.56 and a 1 year high of $534.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $505.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $472.12. The company has a market cap of $77.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.83, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

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.