Stifel Financial Corp Sells 1,127 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Stifel Financial Corp reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 116,034 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,127 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $54,454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NOC. Sapient Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 2,049 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,006 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 900 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $933,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 432 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC opened at $463.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $489.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $491.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.27). Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.07 billion. On average, analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 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, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total transaction of $213,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 245 shares in the company, valued at $112,883.75. This trade represents a 65.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,182 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NOC. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus raised Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $500.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $548.88.

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.