Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Sells 20 Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA trimmed its holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,750 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 20 shares during the quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.6% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,623,128,000 after buying an additional 621,636 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.8% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,218,132,000 after purchasing an additional 211,459 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,688,511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,765,543,000 after purchasing an additional 23,398 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 150,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 22.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 683,427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $297,937,000 after buying an additional 125,262 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,490 shares of company stock valued at $747,372. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $547.44.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $519.35 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $523.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $480.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.18 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 53.79%.

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.