Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Texas Permanent School Fund Corp

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp decreased its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,052 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 6,103 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $10,050,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Choreo LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 224.0% in the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,433 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,929,000 after purchasing an additional 3,065 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 3,684 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,606,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 178.8% in the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 7,921 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,453,000 after buying an additional 5,080 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, Fox Hill Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.8% in the second quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management now owns 1,953 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $851,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $524.37 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $480.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $465.95. The company has a market capitalization of $76.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $414.56 and a 1 year high of $528.76. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The business’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.62%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,846 shares of company stock worth $1,393,028. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $440.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $523.20.

About Northrop Grumman

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.