Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,099 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 460 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. &PARTNERS acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter valued at $217,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 19.1% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 25.9% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 443 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IAM Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. IAM Advisory LLC now owns 3,774 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.2 %

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $529.65 on Tuesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. 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 $78.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $522.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $479.58.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.34 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

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 that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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 1,389 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,225,917.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,879 shares of company stock valued at $1,410,703. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on NOC. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group boosted 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors downgraded Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $535.00.

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.