Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado decreased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 5.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,303 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,176 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $9,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 170 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 844 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.4% during the first quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 965 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 493 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renasant Bank increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 743 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on NOC shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $440.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $516.29.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC opened at $477.57 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $441.64 and a 200-day moving average of $455.30. The firm has a market cap of $69.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $414.56 and a twelve month high of $496.89.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.34 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 57.62%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total value of $663,330.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.