SimpliFi Inc. Sells 30 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

SimpliFi Inc. reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 699 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 30 shares during the quarter. SimpliFi Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $369,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 5.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 621,636 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1,915.9% during the second 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. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.8% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,218,132,000 after acquiring an additional 211,459 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $90,177,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $74,206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. BTIG Research started coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $535.00.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,879 shares of company stock worth $1,410,703. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC opened at $516.40 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $522.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $480.30. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $418.60 and a 52-week high of $555.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.42 billion, a PE ratio of 36.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The company had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.16 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.62%.

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.