State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 29,921 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 36.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 51,766 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 29,921 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $22,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 14.1% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 170 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.4% during the first quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 965 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.1% in the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,068 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $902,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renasant Bank grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 3.3% in the first quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 743 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:NOC opened at $518.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $485.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $467.07. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $414.56 and a 1-year high of $528.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.26, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 57.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NOC shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $440.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $523.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total value of $663,330.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,846 shares of company stock valued at $1,393,028 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.