Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 5.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 49,192 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 2,774 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $25,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 241.2% in the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 245.5% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth $47,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen raised Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $493.99 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $523.27 and its 200 day moving average is $486.19. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $71.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.