American National Bank & Trust Lowers Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

American National Bank & Trust cut its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 31.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,733 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 788 shares during the quarter. American National Bank & Trust's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sapient Capital LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 2,049 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,006 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 900 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $933,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,050 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 212,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,849 shares of company stock valued at $1,831,461. Insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on NOC shares. Argus raised Northrop Grumman to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 price target on Northrop Grumman and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $545.31.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:NOC traded up $5.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $488.43. 578,376 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 892,958. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $70.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.15. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $492.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $482.36. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $9.47 billion for 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.46%.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.