PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Key Points

• PNC Financial Services Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation by 3.3%, now holding 178,957 shares worth approximately $91.63 million.
• Northrop Grumman reported a quarterly EPS of $7.11, surpassing analysts' expectations, and recorded revenues of $10.35 billion for the quarter, indicating a year-over-year increase.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $2.31 per share, reflecting a 1.6% yield and a 34.06% dividend payout ratio.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 178,957 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 6,182 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Northrop Grumman worth $91,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NOC. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,866,133,000 after buying an additional 461,307 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,807,223 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,317,402,000 after buying an additional 109,308 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,030,644 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $952,962,000 after buying an additional 450,858 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,733,680 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $813,599,000 after purchasing an additional 343,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 55,522.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,520,158 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $778,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517,425 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Robert J. Fleming sold 3,500 shares of the business's 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 $1,770,195.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at $924,041.79. The trade was a 65.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 729 shares of the business's 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 7,552 shares in the company, valued at $3,819,575.04. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,536 shares of company stock valued at $8,306,857. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $625.00 price objective (up from $550.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Northrop Grumman from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $586.79.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC stock traded up $1.37 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $591.32. The stock had a trading volume of 209,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,008,732. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a one year low of $426.24 and a one year high of $594.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $516.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $495.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80, a PEG ratio of 5.59 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.84 by $0.27. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.52% and a net margin of 9.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.36 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 payout ratio is presently 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.