Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 1,940 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 36.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,336 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,940 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 410,736 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,194,298 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,846,289,000 after purchasing an additional 142,036 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 362,515 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,244,324 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $547,739,000 after purchasing an additional 79,263 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 74.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $517,028,000 after purchasing an additional 502,060 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. TheStreet lowered Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $503.00.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $480.53 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $462.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $465.77. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $414.56 and a 52-week high of $496.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.21 billion, a PE ratio of 33.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The company had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $1.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 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 $573,321.01. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 4,137 shares in the company, valued at $1,863,180.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.