7,204 Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Shares Sold by McCollum Christoferson Group LLC

Key Points

• McCollum Christoferson Group reduced its Northrop Grumman stake by 17.4%, selling 7,204 shares in the third quarter and retaining 34,251 shares valued at approximately $16.56 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.4% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with Northrop Grumman holding a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $644.70, although several firms recently lowered their targets to between $525 and $540.
• Northrop Grumman shares traded near $483.25, close to their one-year low, while the company reported quarterly EPS of $7.68—beating estimates—and maintains an annualized dividend of $9.88 per share, yielding about 2.0%.

McCollum Christoferson Group LLC cut its position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 17.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,251 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 7,204 shares during the period. Northrop Grumman accounts for 2.4% of McCollum Christoferson Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. McCollum Christoferson Group LLC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $16,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 605.7% during the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 29,881 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $14,477,000 after purchasing an additional 25,647 shares in the last quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.0% in the third quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 993 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. GK Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Balefire LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, Bullock Wealth Management Group increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bullock Wealth Management Group now owns 1,705 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In related news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 95 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total transaction of $52,015.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,405,299.29. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $640.00 to $540.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $590.00 to $540.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $653.00 to $620.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $640.00 to $525.00 in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Monday, June 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $644.70.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock traded down $1.75 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $483.25. 210,193 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 911,775. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1-year low of $470.06 and a 1-year high of $774.00. The firm has a market cap of $68.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of -0.11. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $530.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $557.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $10.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 10.48%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $8.15 EPS. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.600-29.100 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a dividend of $2.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is currently 31.39%.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation NYSE: NOC is a global aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers, with the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies representing its primary markets. Its work spans advanced aircraft, autonomous systems, space systems, missile defense, command and control, cybersecurity, and other mission-critical technologies.

The company's offerings include strategic and tactical aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, aircraft systems, satellites, spacecraft, launch vehicles, missile-warning and missile-defense systems, secure communications, and cyber and information systems.

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