Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Texas Permanent School Fund Corp

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lessened its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 23,052 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 6,103 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $10,050,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth approximately $605,000. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 528 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 557 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $640,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,498,000 after buying an additional 821 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $524.37 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $76.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.67, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34. 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 one year low of $414.56 and a one year high of $528.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $480.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $465.95.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.34 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, June 21st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $523.20.

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.