Toronto Dominion Bank Trims Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Toronto Dominion Bank decreased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 23.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 98,863 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 30,674 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $47,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 960.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 247.6% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE NOC traded up $9.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $480.30. 1,133,287 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 975,638. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $496.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.08 billion, a PE ratio of 33.59, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a 50 day moving average of $441.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $455.46.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.95 by $0.41. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 57.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $515.07.

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.