Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd

Key Points

• OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd has cut its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation by 72% in the first quarter, now holding 408 shares valued at approximately $209,000.
• Several other hedge funds have increased their stakes in Northrop Grumman, with Brighton Jones LLC raising theirs by 176.3% in the fourth quarter, now owning 2,970 shares worth $1.39 million.
• Northrop Grumman recently boosted its quarterly dividend to $2.31 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.6%, up from the previous $2.06 per share.

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd reduced its position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 72.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 408 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 1,051 shares during the quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 176.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,970 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,394,000 after acquiring an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,006 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,610 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,857 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 92.9% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 2,396 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,124,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $542.00 target price (down from $580.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Northrop Grumman from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $424.00 to $521.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $586.79.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $587.13 on Monday. 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 5.56 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 $494.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.84 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.36 earnings per share. 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%.

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 16,536 shares of company stock worth $8,306,857. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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