Vestor Capital LLC Lowers Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Vestor Capital LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 694 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 23 shares during the quarter. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 960.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 247.6% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total value of $322,239.42. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,317.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total value of $322,239.42. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,317.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NOC. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $509.38.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC stock traded up $1.82 on Thursday, hitting $473.43. 836,173 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,005,871. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $70.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $414.56 and a 1-year high of $496.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $465.70 and a 200-day moving average of $465.28.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.50 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $1.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.31%.

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.