Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Director Sells $16,120.50 in Stock

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 33 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.50, for a total transaction of $16,120.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,137,676. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC stock traded up $0.10 on Monday, hitting $489.51. The company had a trading volume of 119,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 888,994. The firm has a market cap of $70.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.14. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $491.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $482.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.07 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $2.31 per share. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on NOC. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $424.00 to $521.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $545.31.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NOC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,266,301 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $6,792,479,000 after purchasing an additional 588,520 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,866,133,000 after buying an additional 461,307 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,139,333 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,631,390,000 after acquiring an additional 974,633 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $1,417,850,000 after acquiring an additional 21,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,807,223 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,317,402,000 after acquiring an additional 109,308 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company's stock.

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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