Veracity Capital LLC Invests $365,000 in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Veracity Capital LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 779 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,975,754,000 after acquiring an additional 410,736 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,194,298 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,846,289,000 after buying an additional 142,036 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 29.2% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,605,679 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $706,804,000 after buying an additional 362,515 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 30.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,567,612 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $723,799,000 after buying an additional 362,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,244,324 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $547,739,000 after acquiring an additional 79,263 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total transaction of $322,239.42. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $917,317.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,784.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total transaction of $322,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,317.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE NOC traded down $2.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $469.08. 65,347 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 930,259. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $457.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $462.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.38 billion, a PE ratio of 34.97, a PEG ratio of 1.92 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.80 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.43 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 23.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.50 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $1.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on NOC. TheStreet downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $541.00 to $473.00 in a report on Friday, December 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $494.33.

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.