Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Position Trimmed by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 166,575 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 486 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned about 0.11% of Northrop Grumman worth $77,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.2% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 1,782 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $784,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 524 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 844 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 165 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $503.00.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.6 %

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $480.45 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $462.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $465.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $496.89. The stock has a market cap of $71.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The business had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.50 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $1.87 dividend. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 52.31%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $573,321.01. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total transaction of $322,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $917,317.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.