Teacher Retirement System of Texas Decreases Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 34.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,006 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 20,396 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $23,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coign Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the second quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,294 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $647,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the third quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 1,127 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. West Wealth Group LLC now owns 412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,243 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $621,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 278 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $700.00 target price on Northrop Grumman and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $710.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $714.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,000 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $615.00, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 191,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,835,230. The trade was a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 97 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,414,826.48. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 10,097 shares of company stock worth $6,099,716. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:NOC opened at $672.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $587.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $582.49. The company has a market capitalization of $96.00 billion, a PE ratio of 24.20, a P/E/G ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.05. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1-year low of $426.24 and a 1-year high of $677.30.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $2.31 per share. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend 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%.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

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.