Blair William & Co. IL Sells 1,434 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stock position in Northrop Grumman by 7.9%, retaining 16,671 shares valued at approximately $8.54 million after selling 1,434 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their stakes in Northrop Grumman, with Federated Hermes raising its position by 519.7% during the fourth quarter.
• Northrop Grumman announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $2.31, reflecting a 1.6% yield on an annualized basis, up from the previous dividend of $2.06.

Blair William & Co. IL lowered its holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,671 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 1,434 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $8,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 790.0% in the first quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 89 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC traded down $6.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $581.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 749,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 876,217. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.43, a PEG ratio of 5.51 and a beta of 0.15. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $522.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $497.88. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $426.24 and a fifty-two week high of $594.68. 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 (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.84 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.15 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.52% and a net margin of 9.74%. The firm's revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $2.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio is 34.06%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,310. This trade represents a 75.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Fleming sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $1,770,195.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 1,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $924,041.79. The trade was a 65.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,536 shares of company stock worth $8,306,857 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $625.00 price target (up from $550.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $542.00 price target (down from $580.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $586.79.

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.