Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Director Mark Welsh III Sells 98 Shares of Company Stock

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) Director Mark Welsh III sold 98 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $555.65, for a total value of $54,453.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,314 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,074.10. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.9%

NOC stock opened at $550.17 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $78.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of -0.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $520.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $590.91. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52 week low of $470.06 and a 52 week high of $774.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.18 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $11.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.14 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 23.46%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $7.67 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a dividend of $2.47 per share. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 31.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $620.00 price objective (down from $800.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $615.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $585.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Sunday, October 25th. Weiss Ratings raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $533.00 to $538.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $643.74.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,169,195 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,707,203,000 after acquiring an additional 168,267 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,001,616,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,298,141,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 960,690 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $655,373,000 after purchasing an additional 5,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 747,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $380,516,000 after purchasing an additional 16,195 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) is a global aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers, with the U.S. government representing its primary customer base. The company operates across aerospace, defense, space, cybersecurity and advanced technology markets.

Its products and services include military aircraft and autonomous systems, space systems and satellites, missile defense technologies, command-and-control systems, cyber solutions, sensors, communications networks and other mission-critical systems.