Advisors Asset Management Inc. Sells 379 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,520 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 379 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,971,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 245.5% in the 2nd 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 acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter valued at $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC opened at $496.93 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $520.60 and a 200-day moving average of $486.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.