Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE trimmed its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 5.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,871 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 5,813 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned 0.07% of Northrop Grumman worth $49,599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NOC. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 790.0% during the 1st quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 89 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on NOC. Bank of America raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $625.00 price objective (up previously from $550.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $586.79.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $3,793,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 201,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,964,243.54. The trade was a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 729 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $368,706.33. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 7,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,819,575.04. This trade represents a 8.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,569 shares of company stock worth $8,323,150. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $587.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.04. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $426.24 and a fifty-two week high of $587.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.15. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $511.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $494.32.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.84 by $0.27. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.52% and a net margin of 9.74%. The business had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.36 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $2.31 per share. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.06%.

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.