Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC – Get Rating) by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,215 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 380 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 406.7% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at $38,000. TD Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at $51,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NOC. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $544.00 to $488.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Cowen downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $478.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $465.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $508.13.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $453.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.51. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $416.23 and a 1-year high of $556.27. The company’s fifty day moving average is $465.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $495.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The aerospace company reported $7.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.57 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.64 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 28.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.00 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 21.89 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $1.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 24th. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.96%.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP David T. Perry sold 3,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.65, for a total transaction of $1,878,130.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,717 shares in the company, valued at $4,093,939.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP David T. Perry sold 3,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.65, for a total transaction of $1,878,130.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,717 shares in the company, valued at $4,093,939.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 1,178 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.81, for a total transaction of $551,080.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,280,395.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,534 shares of company stock worth $4,934,622. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Profile

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Northrop Grumman Corp. engages in the provision of advanced aircraft systems. It operates through the following segments: Aeronautics Systems, Defense Systems, Mission Systems, and Space Systems. The Aeronautics Systems segment is involved in the design, development, production, integration, sustainment, and modernization of advanced aircraft systems for the U.S.