Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by New Century Financial Group LLC

New Century Financial Group LLC cut its stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 11.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 551 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 73 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 117.4% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,237 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 30.7% during the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 5,062 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 385.8% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 14,524 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,393,000 after purchasing an additional 11,534 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 7.4% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,058 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,307,000 after buying an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 24.1% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 50,588 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $22,268,000 after buying an additional 9,830 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $510.36.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE NOC opened at $437.09 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $452.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $458.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $64.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.33. Northrop Grumman Co. has a one year low of $414.56 and a one year high of $496.89.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $10.13 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.50 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a $2.06 dividend. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.