US Bancorp DE Sells 5,813 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Key Points

• US Bancorp DE reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation by 5.7% in Q1, now holding 96,871 shares valued at approximately $49.6 million.
• Analysts have raised target prices for Northrop Grumman to between $580.00 and $650.00, with a general consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Northrop Grumman recently declared a quarterly dividend of $2.31 per share, up from the previous $2.06, reflecting positive financial adjustments.

US Bancorp DE reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,871 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 5,813 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE owned about 0.07% of Northrop Grumman worth $49,599,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 176.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,970 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,394,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 1,006 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted 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 valued at $4,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted 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 valued at $4,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at $238,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $480.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group reduced their price target on Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $586.79.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $3,793,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 201,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $101,964,243.54. The trade was a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $490.00, for a total transaction of $485,590.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 319 shares in the company, valued at $156,310. This represents a 75.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,569 shares of company stock valued at $8,323,150 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:NOC traded up $10.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $587.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,006,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 829,260. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $426.24 and a fifty-two week high of $587.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $511.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $494.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.15.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.84 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $10.35 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.36 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast 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 dividend of $2.31 per share. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is currently 34.06%.

Northrop Grumman 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.