OLD National Bancorp IN Cuts Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

OLD National Bancorp IN trimmed its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,785 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 252 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at $283,114,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 74.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $517,028,000 after acquiring an additional 502,060 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 10.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,975,754,000 after acquiring an additional 410,736 shares in the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at $165,786,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 29.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,605,679 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $706,804,000 after buying an additional 362,515 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (down from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $497.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $430,103.35. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,863,180.69. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $430,103.35. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,863,180.69. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NOC opened at $470.98 on Tuesday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $414.56 and a 1-year high of $496.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $460.10 and a 200 day moving average of $465.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.94, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.80 by $0.47. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 23.07%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $1.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.49%.

Northrop Grumman 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.