KFA Private Wealth Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

KFA Private Wealth Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 504 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 20 shares during the quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,891,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,141 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,131,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,025 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,069,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Salvus Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,321 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $698,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors lowered Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $535.00.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $530.79 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $521.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $478.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.12, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted 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. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,225,917.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,879 shares of company stock worth $1,410,703 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by 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.