Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,741 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 521 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $5,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 245.5% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:NOC opened at $521.63 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $77.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.48, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $528.76. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $492.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $468.88.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly 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 business 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.34 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on NOC. TD Cowen increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $440.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $523.20.

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.