Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Has $516,000 Stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE trimmed its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,103 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 78 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 425 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $199,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,289 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 1,071 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $501,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,148 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,006,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,183,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $541.00 to $473.00 in a report on Friday, December 15th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (down previously from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $494.33.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC stock traded up $0.88 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $478.24. The stock had a trading volume of 256,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 940,874. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $457.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $461.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $496.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.76 billion, a PE ratio of 35.58, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.34.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.47. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 23.07%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.50 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $1.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.49%.

Insider Activity

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at $917,317.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Northrop Grumman news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,784.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 2,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $917,317.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.