Howard Financial Services LTD. Trims Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Howard Financial Services LTD. trimmed its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 38.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 691 shares during the quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of NOC. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 121.0% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,640 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,400,000 after buying an additional 3,635 shares in the last quarter. GAM Holding AG grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 51.9% during the 1st quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 2,338 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,197,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,090,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 206.2% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,771 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,421,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 795,839 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $407,477,000 after purchasing an additional 125,693 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $480.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $625.00 target price (up previously from $550.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $588.85.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $575.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $82.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.58 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.04. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a one year low of $426.24 and a one year high of $600.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $567.43 and its 200 day moving average is $517.73.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.84 by $0.27. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 25.52%. The firm had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.000-25.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a $2.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 34.06%.

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.