Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Director Mark A. Welsh III Sells 33 Shares

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 33 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $535.60, for a total transaction of $17,674.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,221 shares in the company, valued at $2,260,767.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC traded down $1.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $532.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 419,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 886,418. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $514.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $475.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.34 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NOC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of 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. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $523.20.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.6% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,623,128,000 after acquiring an additional 621,636 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.8% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,218,132,000 after purchasing an additional 211,459 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,688,511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,765,543,000 after buying an additional 23,398 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 1,156,477 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $541,393,000 after acquiring an additional 28,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,276,000 after acquiring an additional 150,367 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.