Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 203,588 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 4,919 shares during the period. Northrop Grumman comprises 0.9% of Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Northrop Grumman worth $95,542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 291.7% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 94 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NOC shares. Wolfe Research raised Northrop Grumman from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised Northrop Grumman from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $575.00 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Argus raised Northrop Grumman to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $545.71.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This trade represents a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,127,182 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE NOC traded up $10.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $474.19. 993,825 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 883,043. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $418.60 and a 52-week high of $555.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $489.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $491.26. The company has a market capitalization of $68.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

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.