Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 198,977 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 9.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,935,734 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 198,977 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.34% of Northrop Grumman worth $991,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,677,781 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $5,949,556,000 after buying an additional 56,807 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,866,133,000 after purchasing an additional 461,307 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,164,700 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,954,452,000 after purchasing an additional 23,808 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,025,263 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,417,850,000 after purchasing an additional 21,903 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,807,223 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,317,402,000 after purchasing an additional 109,308 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 729 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $368,706.33. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 7,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,819,575.04. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert J. Fleming sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president owned 1,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $924,041.79. This trade represents a 65.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,569 shares of company stock valued at $8,323,150 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $542.00 target price (down from $580.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $540.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $550.00.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE NOC traded down $3.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $517.64. The stock had a trading volume of 206,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 876,751. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.95. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1 year low of $426.24 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $489.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $486.10. The firm has a market cap of $74.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 0.15.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.19% and a return on equity of 25.46%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio 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.