Machina Capital S.A.S. Sells 4,727 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Machina Capital S.A.S. reduced its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 47.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,182 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 4,727 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NOC. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,169,195 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,707,203,000 after acquiring an additional 168,267 shares in the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,773,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,308,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,298,141,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth approximately $1,461,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $550.88 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $519.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $587.07. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $470.06 and a fifty-two week high of $774.00. The company has a market capitalization of $78.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of -0.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.18 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $11.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.14 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.67 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a $2.47 dividend. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $745.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank set a $615.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $643.74.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 98 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $555.65, for a total transaction of $54,453.70. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,314 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,074.10. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers. Its business spans aeronautics, defense, mission technologies and space, including military aircraft, autonomous systems, missile and air-defense capabilities, sensors, communications and satellites. The company is the prime contractor for the B-21 Raider and is developing the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile system. It also supplies technologies and components for other defense programs, as well as launch vehicles, propulsion systems and spacecraft.