Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Stock Holdings Lessened by First Command Advisory Services Inc.

First Command Advisory Services Inc. reduced its holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 45.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,533 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 2,136 shares during the quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of NOC. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,169,195 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,707,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,267 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter valued at about $6,001,616,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter valued at about $1,298,141,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 960,690 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $655,373,000 after buying an additional 5,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $400,557,000 after buying an additional 58,690 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the subject of several research reports. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $785.00 to $655.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $533.00 to $538.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank set a $615.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $643.74.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 98 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $555.65, for a total value of $54,453.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,397,074.10. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $550.88 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1-year low of $470.06 and a 1-year high of $774.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of -0.13. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $519.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $587.07.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.18 by $0.71. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The firm had revenue of $11.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a $2.47 dividend. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.17%.

Northrop Grumman Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers. Its business spans aeronautics, defense, mission technologies and space, including military aircraft, autonomous systems, missile and air-defense capabilities, sensors, communications and satellites. The company is the prime contractor for the B-21 Raider and is developing the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile system. It also supplies technologies and components for other defense programs, as well as launch vehicles, propulsion systems and spacecraft.