Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Ellerson Group Inc. ADV

Ellerson Group Inc. ADV reduced its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 910 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 93 shares during the quarter. Ellerson Group Inc. ADV’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter worth $47,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on NOC. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of 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. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $523.20.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $524.37 on Tuesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $414.56 and a 1 year high of $528.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $480.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $465.95. The company has a market cap of $76.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.67, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.34 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total value of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares in the company, valued at $3,225,917.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,846 shares of company stock worth $1,393,028 over the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company 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.