Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System cut its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,118 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $16,618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 960.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $512.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $462.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $461.19. The company has a market cap of $75.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.32. 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 1 year low of $414.56 and a 1 year high of $512.34.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.34 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NOC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $440.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $523.20.

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.