Yousif Capital Management LLC Reduces Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 7.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,785 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,053 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $6,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 291.7% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 94 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NOC shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $545.31.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $488.40 on Thursday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $490.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $482.34. The firm has a market cap of $70.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.14.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.27). Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.07 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 36.46%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $490.00, for a total value of $485,590.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 319 shares in the company, valued at $156,310. The trade was a 75.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,090 shares of company stock valued at $533,853 over the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.