Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 7.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 110,515 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 8,310 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $58,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $778,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,859 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 965 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $462,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 27.1% in the 1st quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 990 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,753 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $10,412,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,490 shares of company stock valued at $747,372. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $505.45 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $523.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $482.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $73.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.32, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.87 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on NOC. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $550.56.

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.