Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Arkadios Wealth Advisors

Arkadios Wealth Advisors cut its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,699 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 36 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $897,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NOC. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the third quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,141 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,025 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.4% in the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $780,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.6% in the third quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,321 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $698,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on NOC. StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $547.44.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $512.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.62 billion, a PE ratio of 31.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $523.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $481.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.18 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,490 shares of company stock worth $747,372 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.