Vontobel Holding Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 75.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 532 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,659 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at $283,114,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 74.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $517,028,000 after acquiring an additional 502,060 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 10.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,975,754,000 after acquiring an additional 410,736 shares in the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at $165,786,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 29.2% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,605,679 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $706,804,000 after acquiring an additional 362,515 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $573,321.01. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $573,321.01. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $430,103.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,863,180.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price (down from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $497.23.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC stock opened at $474.40 on Wednesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $496.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $460.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $465.48. The stock has a market cap of $70.31 billion, a PE ratio of 35.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.43 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 23.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.50 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $1.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.49%.

About Northrop Grumman

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.