NorthRock Partners LLC Sells 299 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

NorthRock Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 911 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 299 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth approximately $250,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the third quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 5,613 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,964,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.6% during the third quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 819 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the third quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 2,267 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $512.92 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $523.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $484.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

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. The firm had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.18 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 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.