Bailard Inc. Sells 44 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Bailard Inc. trimmed its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,433 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 44 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,975,754,000 after purchasing an additional 410,736 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,194,298 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,846,289,000 after acquiring an additional 142,036 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 29.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,605,679 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $706,804,000 after acquiring an additional 362,515 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,244,324 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $547,739,000 after acquiring an additional 79,263 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 74.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $517,028,000 after acquiring an additional 502,060 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on NOC shares. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price (down from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $497.23.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC traded up $15.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $489.92. The company had a trading volume of 877,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 996,086. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $72.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.83, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $461.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $465.55. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $414.56 and a one year high of $496.89.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.47. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 23.07%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $1.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 55.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total value of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,784.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $430,103.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,863,180.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.