First City Capital Management Inc. Sells 820 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

First City Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 23.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,628 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 820 shares during the quarter. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter worth approximately $966,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 119.8% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 2,042 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 32.1% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 243 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 45.9% during the 1st quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 1,147 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 216.0% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 3,919 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,876,000 after purchasing an additional 2,679 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $488.68 on Tuesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.28, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $522.56 and a 200-day moving average of $486.29.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.18 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,289 shares of company stock valued at $685,273 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $550.56.

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.