OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Lowers Position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 72.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 121.0% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,640 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,400,000 after purchasing an additional 3,635 shares in the last quarter. GAM Holding AG raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 51.9% in the 1st quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 2,338 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,025,263 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,417,850,000 after buying an additional 21,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $284,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 729 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $368,706.33. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 7,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,819,575.04. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $490.00, for a total transaction of $485,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $156,310. The trade was a 75.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,569 shares of company stock valued at $8,323,150. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on NOC shares. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $540.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $550.00.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC traded up $4.86 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $524.56. 620,915 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 876,356. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.50 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 6.17 and a beta of 0.15. The business's 50-day moving average price is $491.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $486.55. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1-year low of $426.24 and a 1-year high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.46% and a net margin of 9.19%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. 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 dividend yield of 1.76%. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is 36.46%.

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.