St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC Has $992,000 Position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC lowered its holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 8.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,938 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 170 shares during the quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $992,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. GAM Holding AG raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 51.9% during the first quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 2,338 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,197,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,025,263 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,417,850,000 after acquiring an additional 21,903 shares during the last quarter. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth $284,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 74.4% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 156,149 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $73,279,000 after acquiring an additional 66,638 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NOC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $525.00 target price on Northrop Grumman and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Argus upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $553.43.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $499.80 on Tuesday. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1 year low of $422.69 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $488.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $483.14. The company has a market capitalization of $71.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.27). Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.46% and a net margin of 9.19%. The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.07 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $368,706.33. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,819,575.04. This trade represents a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $3,793,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 201,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,964,243.54. The trade was a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,569 shares of company stock valued at $8,322,279 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.23% 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.