QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 918 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

QRG Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 29.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,203 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 918 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 176.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,970 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,394,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 641 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 367.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,516 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,288,000 after buying an additional 1,978 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 25.7% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 666 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 519 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 97 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $564.08, for a total value of $54,715.76. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,414,826.48. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.00, for a total value of $1,845,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 191,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,835,230. This represents a 1.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 10,097 shares of company stock worth $6,099,716 over the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $770.00 to $777.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $727.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $700.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $714.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $656.82.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NOC opened at $657.09 on Wednesday. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1-year low of $426.24 and a 1-year high of $674.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $581.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $580.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.05.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.43 by $1.24. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 25.49%. The business had revenue of $10.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.00 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.24%.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is a leading U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that designs, builds and sustains advanced systems, products and technologies for government and commercial customers. Formed through the combination of Northrop and Grumman businesses in the 1990s, the company’s portfolio spans manned and unmanned aircraft, space systems, missile defense, radar and sensor systems, and integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions.

The company’s work includes airframe and platform manufacturing, space hardware and satellite systems, advanced mission systems and cybersecurity services, as well as logistics, sustainment and modernization programs.