Kingfisher Capital LLC Sells 129 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Kingfisher Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,987 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 129 shares during the quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,891,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,141 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,131,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,025 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,069,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.4% in the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $780,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PBMares Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the third quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,421 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock worth $667,727 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NOC shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC opened at $489.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $517.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $487.15. The stock has a market cap of $71.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman 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.