Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Shares Sold by Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. reduced its holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 76.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 577 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,826 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 75.0% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 63 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 29.2% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 93 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on NOC shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $727.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $700.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $752.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $770.00 to $777.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $656.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $4,200,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 194,602 shares in the company, valued at $116,761,200. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 97 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $564.08, for a total value of $54,715.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,281 shares in the company, valued at $2,414,826.48. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 10,097 shares of company stock valued at $6,099,716 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $672.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $96.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $587.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $583.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52-week low of $426.24 and a 52-week high of $677.30.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $2.31 per share. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 33.24%.

Northrop Grumman Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is a leading U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that designs, builds and sustains advanced systems, products and technologies for government and commercial customers. Formed through the combination of Northrop and Grumman businesses in the 1990s, the company’s portfolio spans manned and unmanned aircraft, space systems, missile defense, radar and sensor systems, and integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions.

The company’s work includes airframe and platform manufacturing, space hardware and satellite systems, advanced mission systems and cybersecurity services, as well as logistics, sustainment and modernization programs.