Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Cuts Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lessened its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,946 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $5,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth approximately $605,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 64,016 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $29,968,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares in the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 528 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,959 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $922,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,358 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on NOC shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $440.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. BTIG Research started coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $523.20.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $523.49 on Thursday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $414.56 and a fifty-two week high of $528.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $475.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $464.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $77.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.61, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.32.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,225,917.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,813 shares of company stock valued at $1,375,877 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.