HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Lowers Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC reduced its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,513 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 33 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,623,128,000 after purchasing an additional 621,636 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1,915.9% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 438,521 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $191,173,000 after buying an additional 416,768 shares in the last quarter. Focused Investors Fund L P purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the first quarter worth approximately $108,369,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,218,132,000 after acquiring an additional 211,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $97,866,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $523.20.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC opened at $519.78 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $414.56 and a one year high of $528.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $486.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $467.55. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $76.01 billion, a PE ratio of 36.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 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 dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the business’s 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,846 shares of company stock worth $1,393,028. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.