Los Angeles Capital Management & Equity Research Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,985 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 2,183 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management & Equity Research Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $5,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,307,071 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,989,037,000 after acquiring an additional 28,254 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 770,176 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $264,918,000 after acquiring an additional 5,844 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 627,064 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $215,691,000 after acquiring an additional 10,204 shares during the last quarter. Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC now owns 619,175 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $232,061,000 after acquiring an additional 9,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johanson Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 34,416.4% in the 4th quarter. Johanson Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 553,298 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,609,000 after acquiring an additional 551,695 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.24% of the company’s stock.
In other news, VP Mary D. Petryszyn sold 3,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $362.27, for a total transaction of $1,420,460.67. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,431,918.51. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.26, for a total transaction of $108,341.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,479,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,027 shares of company stock valued at $3,667,701. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.
Shares of NOC opened at $365.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $61.19 billion, a PE ratio of 27.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $373.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $361.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $263.29 and a 1-year high of $385.01.
Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $5.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.84 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 39.51%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 23.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $1.32 per share. This represents a $5.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 24.89%.
A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on NOC shares. Barclays restated a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $437.00 to $449.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. ValuEngine lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $409.00 to $337.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $367.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $387.20.
Northrop Grumman Profile
Northrop Grumman Corporation, a security company, provides products in the areas of autonomous systems, cyber, space, strikes, and logistics and modernizations in the United States, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Aerospace Systems, Innovation Systems, Mission Systems, and Technology Services.
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