WASHINGTON TRUST Co Boosts Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 43.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,289 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $604,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,975,754,000 after acquiring an additional 410,736 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,194,298 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,846,289,000 after buying an additional 142,036 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 29.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,605,679 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $706,804,000 after purchasing an additional 362,515 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,567,612 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $723,799,000 after purchasing an additional 362,449 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,244,324 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $547,739,000 after purchasing an additional 79,263 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NOC shares. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet cut Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $541.00 to $473.00 in a research report on Friday, December 15th. StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $494.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,761.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $430,103.35. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,137 shares in the company, valued at $1,863,180.69. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of Northrop Grumman 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,761.95. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC traded up $0.78 on Thursday, reaching $478.14. The stock had a trading volume of 244,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 940,601. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $457.07 and a 200-day moving average of $461.20. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $414.56 and a fifty-two week high of $496.89. The company has a market capitalization of $71.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.34. 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 (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.80 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.43 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 23.07% and a net margin of 5.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $1.87 per share. 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%.

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.