CENTRAL TRUST Co Lowers Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

CENTRAL TRUST Co lowered its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 4.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,069 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 434 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $4,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the first quarter valued at approximately $870,000. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter worth about $778,000. Aviso Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 110.7% during the 2nd quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,896 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $827,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares during the period. Susquehanna International Securities Ltd. acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,133,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 9.8% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 160,328 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $74,027,000 after purchasing an additional 14,275 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,490 shares of company stock worth $747,372 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $523.68 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $522.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $480.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.34.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.18 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on NOC. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $535.00.

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.