First City Capital Management Inc. Sells 820 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

First City Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,628 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 820 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 4,969.7% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,853 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 3,777 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 11.0% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 18,562 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $9,802,000 after purchasing an additional 1,844 shares during the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 6.8% in the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 506 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the third quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,208,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviso Wealth Management lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 99.8% in the third quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 3,789 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,289 shares of company stock valued at $685,273. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC opened at $488.68 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $522.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $486.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $71.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.18 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

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.