Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Phraction Management LLC

Phraction Management LLC cut its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,471 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 66 shares during the quarter. Phraction Management LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 400.0% during the third quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Finally, Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $509.38.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock traded up $4.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $489.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 259,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 993,495. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $463.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $465.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $414.56 and a one year high of $496.89. The stock has a market cap of $72.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.50 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given 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 dividend yield of 1.53%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $430,103.35. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,863,180.69. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 4,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,863,180.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.