National Pension Service Buys 49,366 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

National Pension Service grew its position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 15.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 376,673 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,366 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $188,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,266,301 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,792,479,000 after buying an additional 588,520 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 23.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,139,333 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,631,390,000 after acquiring an additional 974,633 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 10.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,241,144 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,147,489,000 after acquiring an additional 210,500 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 12.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,944,186 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $995,443,000 after purchasing an additional 210,506 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,115,625 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $571,211,000 after purchasing an additional 119,693 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $558.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $79.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $591.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $547.02. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1 year low of $426.24 and a 1 year high of $640.90.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.31 per share. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on NOC. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $547.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $642.73.

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.