Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 139 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 681 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 139 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.6% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,623,128,000 after acquiring an additional 621,636 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,218,132,000 after purchasing an additional 211,459 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,688,511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,765,543,000 after purchasing an additional 23,398 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 2,271,466 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,063,364,000 after buying an additional 80,887 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,260,599 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $590,137,000 after buying an additional 16,275 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

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

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $515.93 on Thursday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $414.56 and a 1-year high of $528.76. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $483.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $466.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $10.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.34 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on NOC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report 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 given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $523.20.

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.