Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Shares Sold by Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.

Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. cut its holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 36.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,790 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 5,540 shares during the quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $4,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 725 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 172.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 5,676 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,591 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 59.5% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 12,069 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,835,000 after purchasing an additional 4,503 shares during the last quarter. Syntax Research Inc. bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $589,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,671 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,180,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $556.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $785.00 to $655.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $643.74.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $539.48 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $519.23 and a 200-day moving average of $588.28. The company has a market capitalization of $76.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of -0.13. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1 year low of $470.06 and a 1 year high of $774.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.18 by $0.71. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The business had revenue of $11.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a dividend of $2.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 98 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $555.65, for a total transaction of $54,453.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,397,074.10. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers. Its business spans aeronautics, defense, mission technologies and space, including military aircraft, autonomous systems, missile and air-defense capabilities, sensors, communications and satellites.

The company is the prime contractor for the B-21 Raider and is developing the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile system. It also supplies technologies and components for other defense programs, as well as launch vehicles, propulsion systems and spacecraft.

Northrop Grumman traces its roots to Northrop Aircraft, founded in 1939, and Grumman, founded in 1930; the two companies combined in 1994.