Wedmont Private Capital Has $568,000 Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 4.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,063 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,623,128,000 after buying an additional 621,636 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.8% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,218,132,000 after purchasing an additional 211,459 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,688,511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,765,543,000 after purchasing an additional 23,398 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 16.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $474,276,000 after acquiring an additional 150,367 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 22.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 683,427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $297,937,000 after acquiring an additional 125,262 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $528.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $517.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $476.93. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $418.60 and a 52-week high of $555.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NOC. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. BTIG Research began coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors cut Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $527.19.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total value of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total value of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,879 shares of company stock worth $1,410,703. 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.