Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Shares Sold by Focused Investors LLC

Key Points

• Focused Investors LLC cut its Northrop Grumman stake by 16% in the third quarter, selling 25,700 shares and retaining 134,600 shares worth about $65.1 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall: the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $643.74, though recent target changes were mixed.
• Northrop Grumman reported quarterly earnings of $7.89 per share, beating estimates of $7.18; revenue rose 6.7% year over year to $11.12 billion but came in slightly below expectations.

Focused Investors LLC reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 134,600 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 25,700 shares during the period. Northrop Grumman accounts for about 2.7% of Focused Investors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Focused Investors LLC owned 0.09% of Northrop Grumman worth $65,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 68,000 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $32,877,000 after acquiring an additional 24,950 shares in the last quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 14.5% in the third quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 552 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the third quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 4,359 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,108,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 3.0% in the third quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 782 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 24.0% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 305 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $590.00 to $540.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $612.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $694.00 to $698.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $785.00 to $655.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $643.74.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.9%

NOC opened at $550.17 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $520.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $590.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $78.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of -0.13. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52 week low of $470.06 and a 52 week high of $774.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.18 by $0.71. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 10.37%. The business had revenue of $11.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.67 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.64 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a dividend of $2.47 per share. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is 31.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 98 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $555.65, for a total transaction of $54,453.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation NYSE: NOC is a global aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers, with the U.S. government representing its primary customer base. The company operates across aerospace, defense, space, cybersecurity and advanced technology markets.

Its products and services include military aircraft and autonomous systems, space systems and satellites, missile defense technologies, command-and-control systems, cyber solutions, sensors, communications networks and other mission-critical systems.

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