Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 1,969 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC trimmed its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,878 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,969 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $26,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,623,128,000 after buying an additional 621,636 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 1,915.9% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 438,521 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $191,173,000 after buying an additional 416,768 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,218,132,000 after buying an additional 211,459 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at $90,177,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at $74,206,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on NOC shares. TD Cowen raised Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors downgraded Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NOC opened at $507.44 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $523.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $483.68. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The company has a market capitalization of $73.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.18 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 51.05%.

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.