Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 58.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 406 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 566 shares during the quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $177,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 14.1% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 170 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.4% in the first quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 965 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.1% during the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,068 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $902,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renasant Bank increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.3% during the first quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 743 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total value of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total value of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,846 shares of company stock worth $1,393,028 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Northrop Grumman stock traded down $4.39 during trading on Friday, reaching $515.00. The company had a trading volume of 535,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 925,860. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $478.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $465.44. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52 week low of $414.56 and a 52 week high of $528.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.34.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.93 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NOC shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $523.20.

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.