Moors & Cabot Inc. Sells 203 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Moors & Cabot Inc. reduced its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 3.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,994 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 203 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 59.4% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,305,000 after purchasing an additional 2,753 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 41.4% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,514,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 21.6% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 11.0% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,890 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. 82.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Mark A. Caylor sold 1,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.62, for a total value of $789,275.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,096,798. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 1,007 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total transaction of $468,255.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $424,545. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark A. Caylor sold 1,670 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.62, for a total transaction of $789,275.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,096,798. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $502.00 to $485.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $430.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $485.00 to $435.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 18th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, October 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $555.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $655.00 to $615.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.20.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE NOC traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $465.05. The company had a trading volume of 25,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 862,768. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $455.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $448.22. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $414.56 and a 52-week high of $549.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $70.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.26, a PEG ratio of 8.45 and a beta of 0.42.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The aerospace company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $9.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.58 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.24% and a net margin of 12.07%. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 22.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 27th will be given a dividend of $1.87 per share. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 24.54%.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. The company's Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems in the United States and internationally. 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.