Empowered Funds LLC Trims Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Empowered Funds LLC lessened its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 41.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,003 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 7,083 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $5,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $52,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,289 shares of company stock valued at $685,273. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $493.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.97 billion, a PE ratio of 30.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $523.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $486.19.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.18 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.05%.

About Northrop Grumman

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.