Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Stake Lowered by Brighton Jones LLC

Brighton Jones LLC cut its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,810 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In related news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $3,793,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 201,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,964,243.54. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $490.00, for a total transaction of $485,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 319 shares in the company, valued at $156,310. This trade represents a 75.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,340 shares of company stock valued at $6,183,378 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $545.31.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $517.22 on Monday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $422.19 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The company has a market cap of $74.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $490.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $482.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. On average, equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $2.31 per share. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 36.46%.

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.