Horan Capital Advisors LLC. Trims Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Horan Capital Advisors LLC. lowered its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,622 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 101 shares during the period. Horan Capital Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter valued at $966,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 119.8% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 2,042 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 32.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 243 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 45.9% in the first quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 1,147 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 216.0% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 3,919 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after buying an additional 2,679 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $488.68 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $71.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.28, a PEG 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. The company has a 50 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.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,289 shares of company stock valued at $685,273. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.