Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Holdings in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 33.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 661,571 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 339,124 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.46% of Northrop Grumman worth $310,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 16,660 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $7,818,000 after purchasing an additional 2,770 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 48,367 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $22,698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at about $604,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,857 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $4,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth approximately $284,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC traded up $2.95 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $536.94. 170,349 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 866,117. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1-year low of $418.60 and a 1-year high of $555.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $481.83 and a 200-day moving average of $491.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $77.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 EPS 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%. Analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is presently 29.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 464 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.75, for a total transaction of $213,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 245 shares in the company, valued at $112,883.75. This trade represents a 65.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,182 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Northrop Grumman from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $543.65.

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.