Prospera Financial Services Inc Sells 94 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Prospera Financial Services Inc decreased its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 6.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,449 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 94 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 16.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,276,000 after acquiring an additional 150,367 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 683,427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $297,937,000 after purchasing an additional 125,262 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 443,724 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $229,139,000 after purchasing an additional 5,203 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 12.5% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 357,466 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $188,767,000 after purchasing an additional 39,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 353,466 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $186,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NOC. Alembic Global Advisors cut Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $550.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 1,289 shares of company stock valued at $685,273 over the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NOC stock opened at $496.93 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $520.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $486.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.