Kathy J. Warden Sells 7,500 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Stock

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $3,793,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 201,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,964,243.54. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $517.22 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $422.19 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $490.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $482.57. The firm has a market cap of $74.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.27). Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.07 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $2.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $545.31.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 1st quarter valued at $4,764,000. Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 97.0% in the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 853 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 1st quarter valued at $218,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 1st quarter valued at $17,371,000. Finally, Intrua Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 640 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% 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.