Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Stock Position Lessened by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 42,821 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,024 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $20,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 8,178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,954,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,084 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,491,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 6.8% in the third quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 1,775 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $858,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 15.8% during the third quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 2,195 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 15.0% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,283 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,587,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 98 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $555.65, for a total transaction of $54,453.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,397,074.10. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NOC. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $533.00 to $538.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $745.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $617.00 to $667.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $694.00 to $698.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $643.74.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $550.55 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $520.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $585.88. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52-week low of $470.06 and a 52-week high of $774.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $78.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of -0.13.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.18 by $0.71. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The company had revenue of $11.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a $2.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 31.17%.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers. Its business spans aeronautics, defense, mission technologies and space, including military aircraft, autonomous systems, missile and air-defense capabilities, sensors, communications and satellites. The company is the prime contractor for the B-21 Raider and is developing the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile system. It also supplies technologies and components for other defense programs, as well as launch vehicles, propulsion systems and spacecraft.