Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 34.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,945 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,024 shares during the quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 10.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,975,754,000 after purchasing an additional 410,736 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,194,298 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,846,289,000 after buying an additional 142,036 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,244,324 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $547,739,000 after buying an additional 79,263 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 74.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $517,028,000 after acquiring an additional 502,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.5% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 867,137 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $381,705,000 after acquiring an additional 21,501 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on NOC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet lowered Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $514.33.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC traded up $1.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $470.69. 820,554 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 985,736. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $69.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $414.56 and a 1 year high of $496.89. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $467.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $465.11.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The business had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 24th. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.31%.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In related news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.