Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Sells 113 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp trimmed its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 113 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $13,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NOC. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 960.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 247.6% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the first quarter valued at about $38,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NOC traded up $2.99 during trading on Friday, hitting $435.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 20,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 968,717. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $414.56 and a one year high of $496.89. The firm has a market cap of $64.38 billion, a PE ratio of 30.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $447.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $457.31.

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

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $510.36.

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.