Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Director Sells $17,674.80 in Stock

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 33 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $535.60, for a total transaction of $17,674.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,260,767.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC opened at $527.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.08 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $516.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $476.17.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.34 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.16 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $527.19.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 5.6% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,623,128,000 after purchasing an additional 621,636 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.8% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,218,132,000 after acquiring an additional 211,459 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,688,511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,765,543,000 after acquiring an additional 23,398 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 1,156,477 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $541,393,000 after acquiring an additional 28,934 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 16.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,276,000 after acquiring an additional 150,367 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

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.