Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Reduces Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,836 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 738 shares during the quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth $31,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 245.5% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE NOC opened at $489.88 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $71.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $517.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $487.24.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.18 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $550.56.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $667,727 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.