Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 687 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 113 shares during the quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth $283,114,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 74.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $517,028,000 after buying an additional 502,060 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 10.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,975,754,000 after buying an additional 410,736 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at about $165,786,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 29.2% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,605,679 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $706,804,000 after buying an additional 362,515 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. TheStreet cut Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $503.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total value of $95,482.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Northrop Grumman stock traded down $7.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $480.45. 1,371,947 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,120,454. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.20 billion, a PE ratio of 33.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $414.56 and a fifty-two week high of $496.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $462.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $465.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $1.87 per share. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.31%.

Northrop Grumman 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.