Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 109 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Foster & Motley Inc. reduced its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,300 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 109 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. RWA Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,359,000. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 1,103 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Significant Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,000. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,282,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,291 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on NOC. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $497.23.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $474.40 on Wednesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $414.56 and a 1 year high of $496.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $70.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.19, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $460.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $465.48.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

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

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.