Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Sells 106 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,781 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 106 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NOC. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 23.4% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,139,333 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,631,390,000 after purchasing an additional 974,633 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1,425.2% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,001,198 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $512,624,000 after acquiring an additional 935,554 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the first quarter valued at approximately $369,205,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,266,301 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,792,479,000 after acquiring an additional 588,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 98.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 899,114 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $460,355,000 after acquiring an additional 446,940 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $547.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $696.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $688.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $642.73.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE:NOC opened at $584.93 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 12 month low of $426.24 and a 12 month high of $640.90. The company has a market cap of $83.48 billion, a PE ratio of 21.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $594.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $542.64.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.43 by $1.24. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 25.49%. The business had revenue of $10.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.650-26.050 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $2.31 per share. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.24%.

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.