Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 583,378 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD trimmed its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 39.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 901,534 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 583,378 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $431,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 14.1% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 170 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 844 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 965 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 493 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Renasant Bank grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 743 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on NOC. StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $517.75.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC traded down $0.69 during trading on Monday, reaching $479.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 184,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 970,146. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $496.89. The firm has a market cap of $70.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $441.47 and a 200-day moving average of $455.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The business had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.34 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

Northrop Grumman 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.