American Trust Cuts Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

American Trust reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,591 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 74 shares during the quarter. American Trust’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 960.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 247.6% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the first quarter valued at $38,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $516.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC traded up $1.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $494.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,045,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 916,339. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $414.56 and a twelve month high of $505.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $443.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $455.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.32.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.34 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

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.