Thomas H. Jones Sells 729 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) Stock

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) VP Thomas H. Jones sold 729 shares of the company'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 transaction, the vice president now owns 7,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,819,575.04. This trade represents a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC traded down $9.81 on Thursday, hitting $494.16. The stock had a trading volume of 792,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 884,602. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $490.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $482.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.95. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a twelve month low of $422.69 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The company has a market capitalization of $71.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.14.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.27). Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.46% and a net margin of 9.19%. The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.07 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $2.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 1.87%. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is currently 36.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,517,425 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,139,333 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,631,390,000 after buying an additional 974,633 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1,425.2% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,001,198 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $512,624,000 after buying an additional 935,554 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the first quarter valued at approximately $369,205,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 4.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,266,301 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $6,792,479,000 after acquiring an additional 588,520 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $548.33.

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.