Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO Decreases Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO decreased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 6.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 632 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 43 shares during the period. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 960.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 247.6% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NYSE:NOC traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $435.95. 1,103,091 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,069,240. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $456.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $459.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $64.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $414.56 and a 1 year high of $496.89.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.50 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $510.36.

About Northrop Grumman

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.